


Adding to the Family

by DarkJediQueen



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Kid Fic, Minor Character Death, One-Shot, kid!spencer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 03:34:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19076650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Aaron knew those eyes. He had seen them on himself so much as a child. When he had looked in the mirror to remind himself why he was doing it. To see them on ten-year-old Spencer Reid was heartbreaking.





	Adding to the Family

**Author's Note:**

> **Year** : Season 10 (April 2015)  
>  **Spoilers** : Up Through Season 10  
>  **Notes** : This is a One-Shot, there will be no more added to this story.  
>  **Beta** : Grammarly

Aaron ran into the house with his heart in this throat. His phone call with Kate had been cut off right after the sound of the door to the house being broke in on the other end. Aaron had been jostled, and the phone fell, breaking into many pieces, none of which could be put back together, and it still function as a phone. He had two options, take the time to get a hold of the team or get to Kate. He was the closest, and he needed to get to her. Visions of Foyet had been running through his brain. The front door had been open when Aaron got there from where the UnSub had broken it down. Kate had been in labor when she had called him medics were on their way, but she was alone. It was too much on Aaron.

Kate going into labor had pushed up the UnSub's timetable it seemed. She was three weeks early. Aaron rounded into the living room to see Kate lying on the ground, propped against the couch. She was covered with a blanket, and beside her was Spencer. Little Spencer from next door. In his arms was the baby, wrapped in a towel. Kate had her cell phone up to her ear, and she was looking up at Aaron.

"No, Morgan. I'm fine. Hotch just got here, and EMTs are just behind. Don't wreck!" Kate hung up the phone and looked at Spencer. The little boy was wholly focused on the baby. He could see that the cord had been cut and the baby was settled. Spencer was covered in blood. It wasn't smeared from helping with the birth, those were there, but there was also spray. Spray like he had been around someone who was shot. "Spencer, give me your little namesake and go and get the gun for Hotch, please."

"Okay." Spencer handed over the baby and moved over to where Aaron could see the UnSub. Dead from a gunshot wound to the neck. On the other end of the couch on the armrest was Kate's gun. It had its safety on, and Spencer picked it up carefully. He carried it over to Aaron, handing it over.

"I was in a contraction when Bryants entered. I had my gun on the end table, and he never saw Spencer."

"I picked up the gun, flicked the safety off, and fired." Spencer's tone was not that much different from the few times that Aaron had heard him in a little ramble. It was facts and only the facts, no emotion. It was disheartening. Aaron wondered how into shock Spencer was.

Aaron looked at Kate, and she nodded. She had her son, Spencer, tucked to her chest. Aaron was reasonably sure that she was breastfeeding him. He looked away from her and back at Spencer as he heard the squeal of tires. That meant Morgan had arrived.

"Father used to take me to the gun range before he left, hoping that I would turn into a good boy. That it would turn me into a man." The tone was the same, and Aaron really wanted to just smack the hell out of Spencer's father. He knew well what a man could do to try and change what he thought was a weakness in a son. Aaron wondered what life was really like for Spencer. Aaron had never seen Spencer's father.

Aaron and Kate had been on the undercover operation because with the narrow profile of their UnSub and the victims, it had turned out that there were no undercover female officers who were pregnant enough to pass for a possible victim. Aaron had refused to let someone else go undercover with Kate, so he had offered as he had done it enough in the past on cases that were joint with other divisions before he had joined the BAU. Kate had enough of a background in undercover, and while the stints were usually shorter and most of the time were computer-based, she still agreed to do it. Aaron had thought that it might need to happen, so he had kept her back. After arriving on the jet, she had checked into the hotel using Aaron's personal credit card and worked remotely with the team, just to be safe. Aaron had spent seven hours before they left for the case trying to find someone, anyone who could take the spot of a pregnant mother but there had been no one, and one of the fake bellies on an agent wasn't going to work. The UnSub had known too much medically to not be in the field somewhere.

"Spencer, where is your mother?" Aaron asked, point blank. The three weeks that the BAU had been in Vegas and that he had been living in this house, next door to ten-year-old Spencer, he had ignored what he knew was a bad situation. It hadn't been part of his investigation before, but now it was. Now it really was with a ten-year-old kid having shot an UnSub with an FBI agent's gun. Aaron could actually stick his nose into it, to use Dave's words.

"At home." Spencer was looking Aaron square in the eye as he said it.

"And your father?"

"At home." Spencer's inflection was the same, but he spoke too carefully, there was a lie there somewhere. He didn't look away, so that meant that Spencer was damned good at telling that lie.

Morgan and JJ came running into the living room, their guns weren't drawn, but they looked anxious. They eyes raked all over the room.

"JJ, Morgan, take care of Kate. I need to talk to Mrs. Reid." Aaron settled a hand on Spencer's shoulder, and when Morgan held out an evidence bag for the gun, he dropped it in it. As soon as they stepped outside, Spencer's whole body went stiff, and it was like pushing a board in front of Aaron. When they stopped in front of the door, Spencer didn't reach out to take the doorknob. Aaron had to reach around him to do it. It was unlocked.

Aaron had seen Mrs. Reid once. One day when it looked like they had just gotten back from shopping, but Mr. Reid was nowhere to be found. Aaron had asked about him as part of the case and had cleared him as a suspect when Morgan and Garcia had both confirmed him as not even in town for the first and last murders. Yet he never seemed to come home.

"Who are you?" a woman screamed, and Aaron had to duck. He pulled Spencer into the shield of his body and presented his back to the lady who wielded a frying pan at his back. He waited for the pan to connect before he reached out and grabbed the wrist, spinning so that she couldn't hurt Spencer and then tucking her arm behind her back. He grabbed her other flailing hand and jerked it behind her back as well. He secured one of his hands around both her wrists while he grabbed his cuffs from his pocket and worked on getting them on her. It wasn't until he saw Spencer shuffling on his knees towards her that he realized it was Mrs. Reid.

"Mom, you have to calm down. Agent Hotchner..."

"AGENT! You let a government man in here, Spencer? Do you want him to take you away? DO you want HIM TO TAKE ME AWAY!"

"Mom!" Spencer yelled back, and Aaron just stared. Spencer's face and body language were showcasing fear but his eyes. Aaron knew those eyes. He had seen them on himself so much as a child. When he had looked in the mirror to remind himself why he was doing it.

"Spencer, where is your father?" Aaron asked, finally getting Spencer to look up at him. Mrs. Reid was still screaming, but Aaron just talked over her.

"At home," Spencer yelled back.

"He's not here."

"I never said he was at my home. He left six months ago."

"He left you with your mother?" Aaron didn't need to say the word sick. There was obviously something wrong with her. Aaron was pretty sure she had some form of schizophrenia. The sound of footsteps on the floor told Aaron that someone was there. He looked up to see Dave there. "Dave, take Mrs. Reid, please."

Mrs. Reid was spitting insult and threats if anything happened to Spencer or to herself. Dave took her and handed over his phone with a sad smile. Aaron dialed Garcia and set her on tracking down William Reid because he needed answers.

"What are you doing, Aaron?"

"Spencer is a witness to an attack on a Federal Agent as well as the fact that he shot and killed a man. I'm taking him into emergency custody." What happened at the end of that, even Aaron wasn't sure.

* * *

William Reid, it turned out, lived in Summerlin, twelve minutes away. He didn't seem to care much for the fact that his wife was ill or that Spencer was living alone with her. William mainly wanted to know why he was asked to come down to speak to the FBI. Aaron wasn't shocked to find out that the man was a lawyer.

"Look, I'm in the middle of a big lawsuit case," Reid said as he frowned at Aaron and Dave.

"We need to question your son about something that he might have seen," Dave said, making it sound like it was routine and ordinary. "Your wife is unable to give consent to waive the right for a parent to be there.

"You just need to talk to him?" Reid asked, showing the first sign of concern.

"Yes. He just needs to answer a few questions." Aaron wasn't lying on that. Questions though were the least of what he wanted from Spencer.

"Give me the paperwork. I have to leave town and go north for the case. I won't be able to watch him while his mother is getting her medicines straightened out. You will have to find someone else to watch him."

"Don't worry, Sir," Dave said with a smile on his face. To anyone else, it was a sweet smile, but Aaron knew it well. "He will be well taken care of."

William Reid signed the paperwork, and Aaron looked out to the window where it was being recorded. Reid knew that he was and he had waived his right on that when he entered the room after being told everything in the room was being recorded. Reid left the room quickly like he had somewhere better to be and Aaron knew that it wasn't with his son.

"Are you sure about this, Aaron?"

"Yes. While the UnSub won't be going to trial, there is still the matter of closing the case to make the public feel safe. For that, we need a full accounting of what is going on. For that, we need to talk to Spencer, the elder."

"Spencer the elder?" Dave looked a little weirded out by that. That a ten-year-old would be elder anything.

"Oh, Callahan named her son Spencer since Spencer delivered him and saved her and the baby from the UnSub."

"I wonder how Chris is going to like that. Still, the locals aren't fighting us and haven't been since we took over, I think they would rather the backlash on pregnant mothers being killed happen to us and not to them. So I don't see any fighting you on keeping him close while this case is closed out. I still don't know how I feel about him staying in a room alone."

"You saw his mother. He's lived alone for a while. Staying in a hotel room that connects to mine will not be an issue. He'll have the run of Callahan's room, and I'm sure that it will be fine. He's a brilliant and very willful child. I think that he'll be fine in the room. I'm going to send the team home after we get the preliminary casework done. I'm going to stay with Callahan until she and little Spencer are released from the hospital. With the home birth in the middle of an UnSub attack and a ten-year-old delivering him, the hospital wants to make sure before releasing the two of them and then me taking them home via car. Callahan doesn't want to fly home with little Spencer."

"And is it two Spencers or one that is coming home with you?" Dave asked.

"One." Aaron didn't like Dave's question. He glared at the man when Dave smirked, and it said that didn't believe that.

"Let's go and get Spencer and talk to him in the kid's room."

The kid's room was full of colored walls and kid-friendly art and toys. Aaron watched Spencer in the room because it seemed that no one knew what to do with him. Spencer was sitting down and reading a book. Aaron realized that it was Dave's book. The father in Aaron wanted to rip the book from his hands. Dave let him enter the room alone.

"Hello, Agent Hotchner," Spencer said as he shut the book.

"Hello, Spencer. Have you talked to someone yet?"

"Your one agent lady tried to get me to talk. Her name was JJ. She wasn't prepared to handle me."

"Prepared how." Aaron reached over for the book, but Spencer glared at him and kept it.

"I have an IQ of one hundred and eighty-seven, Agent Hotchner. I can read twenty thousand words per minute, and I have an eidetic memory. I can tell that you want to take the book away from me. Hence you reaching out for it in a show of concern to where I can put it. It's not the first time I've read Agent Rossi's books. I found the book in the true crime area of my library and read it, and then we were able to order in the rest. One of the librarian ladies bought me a Kindle. While I don't read as fast on it as my mind processes the printed on paper word better than on a screen. I use it for the books I want to read again. It's mostly science texts."

Aaron looked at Spencer and realized that no one on the team was prepared to take his statement. Hell, he didn't think that he was even though he had the highest IQ on the team. Aaron missed Blake because he was pretty sure that she would be able to handle Spencer. Aaron watched Spencer looking at him.

Abused kids, even ones that didn't see their life as abuse knew how to read adults. They responded better to the gut instinct that told them to run or not to trust. Spencer had started to learn that living with his mom was abuse, but as his father didn't want him, he saw no other option. A child with Spencer's IQ would not do well in foster care. He would either become a behavioral problem because he wasn't challenged enough or he would be easily led astray by someone else that showed an interest in him. There was also no way that Spencer would get any type of help at all from foster care to deal with the fact that he had shot someone and killed them. Finding a therapist that could deal with a genius adult was hard much less a genius child-like Spencer.

Aaron really wanted to curse Dave. He turned to look at the window that Dave was watching from and frowned at him before he turned back to look at Spencer. Spencer was looking at the window as well.

"I already checked the window there. Two way. I learned how to test that from online."

"So you have Internet at home?"

"No. We don't even have cable. She only allows the house phone because otherwise, she couldn't talk to her students."

"Does she have a cell phone?"

"No. I do, though. I hunted for change in drains and dropped on the ground until I could pay for a phone. I only get like one hundred minutes a month, but I can afford that. The librarian lady helps me. I give her the money and then she buys my minutes with her debit card."

"Why don't you go through your mom for that stuff?" Aaron asked.

"Because my mother is a paranoid schizophrenic who believes that the government is listening to everything that we do. She only uses the Internet at work and doesn't even trust the cable not to spy on her. If she knew that I had a cell phone hiding in with my socks, then she would be very upset."

"Why haven't you turned her in, Spencer?"

"To who? People, who think they know what it better for me? Who would stick with me a family that couldn't take care of me in a way that does more than putting clothes on my back and food in the gut? My brain would die, and that's worse than having to take care of my mom. I've seen the stuff, Agent Hotchner on geniuses in foster care. I know what I could become."

"So how do you feel about the fact that you killed someone?"'

"I was aiming for his stomach, but the gun kicked a lot, and I wasn't prepared for that. He also moved. He was going to kill me, he was going to kill Miss Kate, and he was going to kill the baby. I've read books on compartmentalization. I'm not the best at it, but I think I can do it enough. I'll probably wake with nightmares, and I'm sure that I do need to talk to someone about it. The school counselor doesn't know what to do with me. Though she doesn't know what to do with most of the kids at the high school."

"High school?"

"Yes. I'm a freshman there. I'll be graduating the summer after I turn twelve. With the classes that I tested out of and the ones that I can't, I have to do two years in high school before I can get my diploma."

"Excuse me," Aaron said before he stood up. He looked at the book and smiled. "I'll be right back, Spencer."

"It's okay if you aren't. You are busy." Spencer stood up and walked to the window that looked out onto a park.

Aaron walked out of the room and then into the little conference room that the team had been using. He found Dave's briefcase and pulled out the copy of his manuscript that he was working on. Aaron knew that it was complete, and he was just doing some hard copy editing and then sending it to his editor. Aaron grabbed one of the purple pens from JJ's stack of pens that she used for various notes on case files before he walked out and knocked on the door to the room Spencer was in.

"Come in," Spencer called out, and his tone said that he wasn't sure why someone was knocking.

Aaron opened the door.

"I'll be gone a few hours, Spencer. I have some things I need to do for the case, and then I'll be back. It'll be right around dinner time when I get back. You can stay here unless someone needs the room and then you are free to go into the conference room the BAU is using. Or if you just want out of here. I need your promise that you aren't going to mess with our stuff though."

"I promise." Spencer's eyes were glued to the manuscript.

"Good. Now here is something to bide your time while I am gone. Feel free to makes notes on grammar, spelling, anything you want really. I'll get your dinner. What do you want?" Aaron didn't hand over the manuscript yet. He held it in his hand. The cover was blank, so Spencer had no way of knowing what it was.

"Just a sandwich from anywhere really. I don't care."

"I asked what you want, Spencer, not what was easiest."

Spencer shrugged. Aaron set the manuscript down on the bookshelf that was beside him along with the pen, and he walked over to where Spencer was. He crouched down so that he could look Spencer in the eye.

"Hey, my team and I eat out at so many places on cases, and most of the time it's on the suggestions of the cops that we work with on the cases. So since we are here in Vegas and you are a Vegas boy born and bred with different tastes than cops who eat anything, I was hoping you would tell me what your favorite meal is so that we can try the place too."

"There is this Indian place near where mom and I used to live before dad left. I miss their food as it's too far to walk and I get weird looks on the bus when I go that far." Spencer rushed to the table and grabbed a crayon that was on the table before he started to write an address on the white paper that was there for him to color on, but he hadn't touched it. He handed the paper over.

"Thank you. Now. Remember to have a little fun with this. I can't wait until I see Dave's face when he sees your notes." Aaron walked back over to pick up the manuscript and handed it over. Spencer flipped to the first page and grinned when he saw what it was. Aaron handed over the purple pen next. Spencer's eyes sparkled at the color. Aaron had learned that Spencer liked purple a day after meeting him.

Spencer got lost in the manuscript before Aaron was even out of the room.

"You gave my manuscript to a ten-year-old boy to edit?" Dave asked, but his tone wasn't upset, just intrigued. "One who shouldn't be reading it anyway."

"He's already read your other books. How could this hurt?" Aaron asked. He knew that it wasn't the best move, but Aaron needed Spencer to trust him and to do that he needed to show Spencer that he trusted him and valued him.

"I'm not sure I look forward to seeing what he puts there, but it does give him something to do. Now, where are we going?" Dave asked.

"We aren't going anywhere. I'm going to see Diana Reid in the hospital, and then I am going to see about a few other things. You are doing to check into Mrs. Reid's work history and who knew what was up and how in the hell no one has done a check on a ten-year-old living with a mentally unstable mother at his school. Take a LEO with you so that it's legit. I've already talked to the Chief of Police, and he's not that happy that no one reported this."

"I'll do that. The rest of the team is still going over the UnSub's house, right?" Dave asked.

"Yes."

* * *

Aaron looked into the back seat of the SUV that they had rented for the drive from Vegas to DC, Kate was still a little sore from giving birth, but she was up and around and doing wonderfully. Little Spencer was also doing just as good. He had been released with full marks, and Kate was going to be having her personal doctor doing a check on him as well for a baseline for their records. It was four in the morning, but Kate had wanted an evening to relax after she got out of the hospital late yesterday. Aaron didn't care because he was still technically working.

"He's still out," Kate said as Aaron looked back where he was driving. It was dark out, and no one else was really on the road, not since they had left the city proper and was on the highway.

"How can you tell?"

"I can't hear the flipping of the manuscript pages. Rossi was bitching about how much 'red' ink was on the page already." Callahan used air quotes, and it made Aaron laugh. "You know it's not stupid. I know that it's unorthodox, but no family was willing to take him in, and even his father wanted nothing to do with him. Rossi told me about what you said to the family court judge about what Spencer could become if they forced William Reid to take him or put him in foster care. I know that you are supposed to be this big strong no feeling man and it's what you portray when you have to when you work, but we all know different. I knew it before I applied here. The other Unit Chiefs talk, you know. You love Jack too much for anyone to say that you have no emotions."

"Jack," Aaron said. He gripped the steering wheel hard. He had not called Jessica or Jack about what he had done. It had been stupid but sitting and watching as Spencer talked to the lady from the foster system about things and him asking questions and her getting upset had killed Aaron. Aaron had told to Prentiss once about never getting attached and taking a kid home, but yet he had done the same thing. Dave had already enrolled Spencer in New Haven, a school on Dumfries that was a private, year-round school. Spencer had looked really happy about it when Dave had brought it up before the team had left Vegas. Spencer would only have a full year plus a partial there, but it looked like it was going to do well for him. Aaron wondered if Spencer would mind a second full year there taking other classes before he went to college.

Jack would understand what Aaron had done, even if they were both a little more distant than they usually were with Jack growing up. Aaron would also need to move. He and Jack had been looking at houses for a while now, but neither of them had been able to make a decision. Jack wanted a yard and to live in a neighborhood more than an apartment building with no yard. Spencer would be able to stay at the school for the first week as he would start classes in two days so he would only have a night on Aaron's comfortable to sit but horrible to sleep on, couch. Then Aaron wouldn't have to worry about him, and it would give Jack more time to adjust, and time for Aaron to talk to Jessica. This didn't need to affect their lives more than it had to. Spencer was already talking about how excellent the school was after spending a few hours looking at it on Dave's phone. Pictures of the dorm room that he would stay in had been sent to Aaron's phone after Dave had arranged for Spencer to start as early as possible.

The first week would be tests, which Aaron didn't see Spencer having a big issue with. There was also meeting with the counselor who was on staff that dealt with geniuses of all ages. It was the perfect school. Jessica wouldn't have to deal with Spencer with Aaron was on cases because there were some students that boarded over long periods when their parents were away on foreign duty or even on the campaign trail and other reasons. It was a school for smart kids, but most of those kids were not Spencer level of intelligence.

"Jack's going to understand," Callahan said.

"I know he will, it'll just take some adjustment." Aaron sighed and focused on the road.

Aaron had mapped out the trip. It would be around thirty-five hours of driving, but with a newborn and a ten-year-old in the car, it would be impossible to drive straight through even with him and Callahan taking turns. So Aaron had used Google to map it. Spencer had tried to help him, but Aaron had told him that he had it. Spencer had gone back to Dav'e manuscript. Spencer had spent all of his free time that he wasn't reading other books that Aaron took him to get from the library working on Dave's manuscript. Aaron had the address to mail the books back to them.

The ladies at the library that Spencer went to were sad that he was going to be leaving but were happy that he was going to get to stay with someone that he liked. They had chipped in, and when they had returned a few hours before they left Vegas, there had been a rather massive Amazon gift card waiting on Spencer as well as a small cake in his favorite flavor. Aaron and Spencer had stayed as long as they dared. Aaron could see the influence that each of them had on Spencer. He soaked up their attention in the way that only a child who had no other parent could. Aaron felt bad about pulling him from them, but Aaron couldn't just move to Vegas. Spencer was glad that he was going to a good school and still going to be on track to go to college the next fall.

Three days on the road with a child and a newborn should have been tiring, but Spencer helped with his little namesake just as much as Callahan took care of him. When he got, fussy Spencer would unbuckle and slip up into the seat beside the car seat and talk to him. Spencer spent the last three hundred miles reading to little Spencer. It was a physics text that he had bought with the money that had been loaded to his Kindle, but at least it wasn't something repetitive like some children's stories were. Kate found it adorable and recorded snippets of it on her phone and shared with her husband, who was going to meet them at Quantico to drive Callahan and the baby home. Kate's car was at the house as Morgan had stopped and picked her up for the case as she had been half asleep and didn't want to risk driving, nor did she really like driving with as big as she was.

"Ready?" Aaron asked, looking at Spencer who was in the back of the SUV again, packing up everything that he had scattered across the back seat to keep himself entertained during the long trip. The SUV was going to go into maintenance before it was slotted into the fleet of vehicles used in the DC area. Another SUV would probably be sent out to Vegas to replace this one, or a new one would be bought there, and DC's money would be used. Aaron wasn't sure, but the Bureau had not wanted to foot the bill for the rental car. No one could have predicted Callahan going into labor on the case, and therefore it was not her fault that she had.

"Yes, Sir," Spencer said.

The sir had cropped up during the trip, and Aaron wasn't sure why but he wanted to see what happened with it. They were strangers still, and Spencer didn't have a lot of trust in adults. Everything would take time.

Spencer had packed up his clothes, but there had not been a lot that he fit in. He had gone through a growth spurt not too long ago, and his clothes were too short or too tight, not enough money to buy a lot at a time. Aaron had marveled at the ledger that was kept to that showed all of the bills for the year that Spencer could predict and then added in the money that his father sent along, his mother's work money, and pension. She had been retired due to her illness and then hired back on in a lower position to help with money. Her TAs mostly ran that class as Spencer was having trouble keeping her on her meds since his father had left.

Everything that Spencer wanted to take with him to his new home had fit into three boxes. Aaron wasn't sure if Spencer just didn't want anymore or he didn't want to take too much to upset Aaron. Still, the house was being packed up by a company and moved across the country to a storage unit. Diana Reid was never going to be leaving Bennington Sanitarium. Her pension and what Aaron had got her soon to be ex-husband to agree to pay as part of the alimony, Spencer didn't have to worry about his mom being kicked out of there. Aaron would also make sure that at least four times a year Spencer went to visit her. Even if he had to pay a babysitter of sorts to escort him across the country.

"Where do you live?"

"In DC proper. It's a lot like Vegas, there is a split between the living section and the working section."

Spencer said nothing as he settled the first bag of his into the backseat of Aaron's car. Aaron didn't try and get him to talk. This was a big change for Spencer, Aaron could understand him being scared. Spencer's head didn't stop swiveling in the car after they packed it up and made the almost an hour drive from Quantico to DC. Aaron wasn't sure what to say to Spencer as they drove. The silence made the trip feel like it was a lot longer than it really was.

Aaron realized as he parked in his assigned spot that Spencer was shivering. Aaron thought that it was fear until he realized that while it April, DC was having a cool April whereas Vegas was having a very hot April. Aaron grabbed a light jacket that was Jack's in the back seat stuffed in the pocket there and dropped it on Spencer's lap. "Put that on."

"Why do you have this?"

Aaron looked at Spencer as he looked over the coat. There was lettering on the back for the soccer group that Jack played in. "It's my son's."

"It will fit me. Your son is my size?"

"He's a year younger than you."

"Oh."

Aaron wasn't sure what the tone was in Spencer's voice, but he looked very upset at the idea that Jack was that close in age. Aaron wondered why.

"So, Spencer. I've not talked to my son yet. He's upstairs."

Spencer looked down at Aaron's finger and then up at Aaron. "I assumed that he would be with your ex-wife."

"Why do you say that?" Aaron asked.

"You have no ring on your finger. There is no evidence of a ring on your finger, so you have to be divorced. You've been out of town for work, so I assume that you've not left him home alone if he's younger than me."

"He's upstairs with my sister-in-law. I probably should have talked to you before this. My wife died. She was killed a few years back by an UnSub that we were chasing who decided to chase us back. So while I am at work, her sister watches Jack."

"I see." Spencer cocked his head to the side and looked at Aaron like he was trying to read Aaron's mind. Aaron let him as he pulled the keys from the ignition. Spencer unbuckled himself and opened up the door. Aaron was around the car and had Spencer's bags over his shoulder. He was going to leave his go-bag in the trunk of the car. He could run down and get it when the kids were asleep. Aaron felt a little bit of pride because he had two kids now.

Aaron wrapped his arm around Spencer's shoulder before directing him to where the elevator in the building was. He pressed the button for the fifth floor. Aaron realized that Spencer wasn't wearing the coat because he was still shivering in the cold.

"Spencer," Aaron said before he tugged the coat from Spencer's hands. Spencer backed up against the wall and shook his head as Aaron tried to put it on him.

"I'm fine, Sir."

"You don't have to call me, sir, Spencer. You can call me Aaron."

Spencer didn't answer Aaron. The doors opened, and Aaron reached out to pull Spencer with him. He didn't force him into the coat but kept it over his arm. One of the bags shifted and fell. Spencer grabbed it from Aaron's arm and hefted it up. It was the messenger bag that Spencer had packed some of his clothes into. Spencer slung it over his neck to where it could hang mostly in the front of him, and Aaron realized that Spencer used it as a shield. Aaron let him do that as he used his key in the front door of the apartment. Jack was sitting on the couch with a lap desk, drawing. Jack looked up.

"Dad!" Jack pushed the lap desk off and ran over to Aaron. Halfway to him, Jack stopped and looked at Spencer.

"Jack, this is Spencer Reid. Spencer this is my son, Jack Hotchner."

Jessica popped her head out of the kitchen area and looked at Aaron with a weird look on his face.

"And Spencer this is my sister-in-law, Jessica Brooks."

"Aaron?"

"Spencer, why don't you go and sit in the living room. Jack keep him company."

Aaron nodded toward the back of the apartment where Aaron and Jack's rooms were. Jessica always slept in Aaron's bed when she stayed over at his place instead of taking Jack back to hers. Aaron started back that way and waited for Jessica.

"Who is that?"

"I adopted him."

"You adopted him?" Jessica asked, and she looked stunned. "You went on a case and came back with a child."

"His father abandoned him and his mother. She is a paranoid schizophrenic and unable to care for him. I couldn't leave him. Especially since I really don't want to have to read about him becoming an UnSub. He's very intelligent and a few more pushes away from becoming someone that the BAU would hunt. He was there when the case ended. Callahan went into labor when the UnSub broke into the house we were staying in. Spencer was there and got to Callahan's gun. He is the one that took the UnSub out."

"Why didn't you call and warn me? I don't have enough dinner for him. Men. Sometimes I forget how thick you can be. And I could have warned Jack. His clothes are a little...small."

"He's been the adult. He monitors the money and is in high school. Dave got back to DC first with Spencer's file. He's already enrolled at New Haven Academy and will start classes there the day after tomorrow. Which I know that starting on a Wednesday isn't ideal, but he gets bored very easily."

"High school?"

"When classes end in June he will be getting ready to start his senior year of high school. I may be able to get him to extend another year at New Haven if he doesn't hate it. Taking classes that seem interesting and maybe get him enrolled in some online college classes. I'm sure that Georgetown will do a little bending over backward to get him on their roster for a semester even if he's still doing classes at New Haven."

"That's right on your way to work."

"Yes, and there are teachers on staff that will take kids that early. There are a few that live there full time. You won't have to worry about him at all."

"What do you mean, Aaron Hotchner?" Jessica demanded.

"When I'm on cases he'll board over at New Haven. I can pick him up after whatever work days of my first back at Quantico. That's why I am hoping that he'll give New Haven two full years. I won't have to worry about summers for another year and try and figure out what to do."

"You are going to tell Jack that he has a brother and then keep said brother away from him for long hours? Days on end? And what about during his breaks? New Haven is a year-round school, but even there are longer breaks there than the weekend. Are you going to pick him up and drop him off in between cases?"

"It's okay, Miss Brooks," Spencer said from the doorway.

Aaron spun around to see Spencer standing there with a pile of clothes in his hand. It looked like sleep clothes.

"Agent Hotchner is it okay if I go ahead and have that shower now? I'm tired from the trip."

"Sure," Aaron said because he wasn't sure what else he wanted to say. He hadn't meant for Spencer to hear any of that. It wasn't going to change what he was doing, but he had meant to explain it to Spencer better than just being blunt like he was with Jessica.

"I'll show you where it is, sweetie," Jessica said. She walked to where Spencer was, and he ducked away from her hand and stepped back to let her out the door first. Aaron watched them as Jessica showed him where Jack's things for bathing was in the room and then questioned that maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to use Jack's things that maybe using Agent Hotchner's would be better. Jessica looked back at Aaron at that before shutting the door. Aaron took that as dismissal, so he went in search of Jack. Jack was sitting on the couch and looking at one of Spencer's books on physics.

"Spencer is really smart, isn't he?" Jack asked as he closed the book and looked at Aaron.

"He is."

"Did you save him, Dad? On your case?"

"Yes, buddy, I did." Aaron dropped onto the couch beside Jac, and Jack leaned into him.

"Was someone hurting him?"

"Oh, Jack, not the way that you think. His father didn't want him, and his mother was sick and couldn't take care of him. His mom was well enough to give him up to someone who could take care of him." Aaron had fought with her, and in the end, Aaron had won because there was no one else and even in her more lucid moments, Diana Reid knew that she couldn't take care of Spencer. She hated her husband for refusing to take care of their son, and it was the only thing that had made Diana really upset. William had caved like a wet noodle when Aaron had pointed out that he could have him brought up on charges for leaving a child with a violent, mentally ill adult. Aaron had left his address with Bennington and told them that all letters, no matter what, were to be sent to Spencer and that Aaron would try and get Spencer to call as much as he could.

"You saved him because you are a superhero."

Aaron looked up and saw Jessica leaning in the doorway. She was grinning at Jack's words, and there was a look in her eye that told Aaron that she dared him to tell Jack that Spencer wasn't going to live with them.

"I can get out my sleeping bag and sleep on it, and Spencer can take my bed until you get a bunk bed for us. It's going to be so cool to have a brother."

Jessica raised an eyebrow, and Aaron slumped down on the couch. He felt like a child at that moment. He mouthed the words to Jessica that he would talk with Spencer and tell him that he wasn't going to have to live at New Haven. Aaron was afraid that the damage was done. Instead of talking to Jessica, he had made plans so that her life wasn't affected at all and it had hurt Spencer, and that had not been Aaron's intention.

Spencer came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later. His hair was combed out and was starting to curl. He had a blanket wrapped around him. Aaron remembered it from the couch in the house in Vegas. Aaron had not seen him carry it into the bathroom, but when Aaron hadn't been paying too much attention to him. There was enough room on the couch for Spencer to sit either on Jack's side or Aaron's as Aaron had bought a couch that he could lay down on and not have his feet or head at an angle. Spencer though went right for the chair where his messenger bag was.

"Spencer honey how does macaroni and cheese sound for dinner."

"I'm not hungry, Miss Brooks," Spencer said before he wrapped the blanket around his body tighter and rolled to where his back was to the room, and he was curled in a tight ball. Seconds later, Aaron realized that his body was shaking and it wasn't from being cold. Spencer was crying. It was like Aaron had been punched in the gut.

"Dad?" Jack asked, his voice low to where hopefully Spencer didn't hear it.

"He's tired from the trip. We crossed nearly the whole country in three days with a newborn. I'm sure that tomorrow when you get out of school he's going to be in a lot mood." Aaron pressed a kiss to Jack's forehead before pulling him off the couch when Aaron got up. "So what's for dinner, Jessica?"

"Macaroni and cheese casserole with vegetables added in already. I made up a salad as well for more vegetables."

Jack laughed, and Aaron chuckled along with him. He wanted to go to Spencer and pull him into his lap, but Aaron was the one that had caused him to cry. Aaron wanted him, but the way he had been acting didn't make it seem like it. Aaron would give it until the morning to let Spencer calm down and then they would talk.

* * *

Aaron was used to being the first up, even after the time change between cases. He entered the kitchen to see that Spencer had eaten and done the dishes from that. Which looked like a cup of something and a plate. Aaron turned to the coffee pot to see that a cup of it was missing. Aaron shook his head. He had not seen Spencer drink anything other than water or juice. Actually, he only drank what he was given and chose water unless he was given other options. In the trash was a wrapper from a pop tart that was not any of the kinds that Aaron had on hand for Jack. Jack like the fruit ones only, and Aaron had got out of the habits of buying the brown sugar cinnamon ones as Aaron was the only one that ate them, but it seemed that Spencer liked them.

The only question was where Spencer had got them. Aaron stepped into the living room to see that Spencer was tucked into the chair again, in the same position, and it seemed that he was reading a book instead of crying.

"Good morning, Spencer."

"Good morning, Sir," Spencer said, but he didn't roll over.

"There was plenty of other food."

"I was hungry, and I had the pop tart in my bag, so I ate it. I was thirsty, and the coffee smelled good after it was made."

"Spencer, can you please put the book up and roll over to look at me."

"Sure, Agent Hotchner."

Aaron rubbed at the bridge of his nose because it was going to take a lot to break Spencer of calling him, Sir and Agent Hotchner. Spencer closed the book, and into the bag on the floor, it went like he was protecting it. Aaron wondered if that was something that Spencer had to do a lot. Aaron cleared his mind of those thoughts because he had a point of what he was going to be talking to Spencer about. Spencer was sitting in the chair like he was trying to make himself small and nearly invisible.

"It's good you are awake early, I can talk to you about what kind of rules this house has."

"I do better if you write them down, Sir. I remember the written word better, and I've gone for a little while without rules that I don't make myself like my bedtime and what I am supposed to eat and such. Can I go to New Haven today to look around? We can do it in the afternoon and then I can stay the night there tonight to see what my room is going to be like."

"That's something else that I need to talk to you about."

"It's okay, Sir. I won't mind staying at New Haven all the time. It will be nice. I'm sure that the library will be sufficient for my needs for reading. And if not, I can find books online."

"When my sister-in-law agreed to watch Jack, I didn't have another child, and while Jack is Jessica's blood, you are not, and I was trying to make everyone happy and give Jessica and Jack the least amount of issue without thinking about what it would mean for you. I adopted you, while the paperwork is still being worked on, I am your guardian."

"It's okay, Agent Hotchner. You weren't planning on me, and I'm really happy that I get to go to New Haven. The school sounds perfect, and really it's just a few years, and I am sure that I can get totally out of your hair. Colleges have ways of dealing with genius children like me when their parents or guardians don't want them. You are making sure that I'm not stuck in foster care and that's enough for me, Sir. I'll be fine reading in my room at New Haven as much as I would reading here in the living room. At least there I won't be in anyone's way."

"Spencer," Aaron said as he took a few steps closer. Spencer huddled down into himself, and Aaron wanted to slap himself in the head. He was really fucking up something that should have been a really happy moment for all of them. Aaron had always wanted more kids with Haley, but there had been so many issues with getting pregnant with Jack that Aaron had kept the thoughts to himself. Now he had a son, and he had been treating him like a job.

"Please, Sir. Don't." Spencer sounded like he was at the end of his rope. Aaron didn't stop, though. He crouched in front of Spencer and laid a hand on his knee.

"I try too hard sometimes, trying to make everyone else happy that I was painting you with the same brush as me. I was trying to make Jack and Jessica happy without considering exactly how that would make you feel because I didn't care about my own feelings. I want you here. I want you in my life, in Jack and mine's life as much as possible but," Aaron said as he picked up Spencer and turned to where he was sitting in the chair with Spencer in his lap. "But you are very independent as well. You've been raising yourself, and I know what that feels like. My father was disinterested in me, and my mother only wanted to parade me around at her functions to show that she was a good person who had loving children. I was a toy that was put up when it was time for the function to be over. If someone had adopted me away from them and tried to parent me too much, I think that I would have rebelled. So how about we make a compromise. When I am home, you are going to stay here. When I am not, it's your choice whether you want to come back here with Jessica and Jack or stay at the school."

"You really want me?" Spencer asked.

"I do, and I wasn't doing the best at conveying what I wanted and why I wanted to Jessica. Hell, I'm not even sure that I understood what I wanted myself. Jack can be a bit much. I was dating a lady a while back, and she moved because of her job, and Jack was kind of okay about it, but what he said he had been looking forward to was a baby sibling. I know that you are not a baby, you are not even younger than him, but I hope that he adjusts well." Aaron wrapped his arms around Spencer, tugging him back into himself and just holding him. Spencer wiggled a little but he wasn't trying to escape, he was just changing positions.

Spencer yawned, and Aaron said nothing. He just waited, and within a few minutes, even with a cup of coffee in him, Spencer fell asleep. Aaron got himself comfortable so that Spencer could at least get a little more sleep in him before Jack woke up, which would be in about two hours unless the thought of playing with Spencer got him up earlier.

Aaron fished around to grab the strap of Spencer's bag, and he tugged it up to where he could get a hold of Spencer's Kindle. It wasn't one of the fancy color ones but just a simple black and white one that would allow Spencer to read regular books without glare. Jack had a tablet that was used for school things as well as reading some kids magazines that Aaron bought for him. Aaron would ask Spencer if he wanted one as well so that he could read magazines. Aaron was slightly strict with Jack money for toys and the like, but when it came to reading and school things, Aaron wasn't, but he knew that he would have to be with Spencer. Some kind of allowance on books had to be set up. Jack had five magazine subscriptions so Aaron would allow up to seven for both boys, each to make it fair but the cost wouldn't factor into anything. Spencer's would be more expensive just because it was magazines for adults and science ones at that. New Haven had a list of extracurriculars that the kids there did that had nothing to do with sports so Aaron would see about getting Spencer into something there. Thankfully the school took care of transportation back and forth on that for the most part.

"Hello," Jessica said.

Aaron looked up to see her standing there with a smile on her face. She held up her phone and took a picture.

"It's a good look on you, Aaron."

"What is?"

"Fatherhood. So your team has been messaging me all of last evening and this morning. Dave wrangled the entire team a week off, and so they had decided that it's time to move the Hotchner household. Today we are going to look at seven houses. Derek will be here in a few minutes to show you the prospects. Now the difference between all of the ones you were looking at before and these are that there is an extra room or two. No matter how you want to do it, Spencer is going to want a library of some kind. Talking with him a little last night in the bathroom before he shooed me out, he reads a lot, and he likes to read real books. You said that he had a sizable collection that was his mother's that will be arriving with his other things in a few days, so you need a library."

"You want to drag two kids around two seven houses?" Aaron asked.

"Oh, yes because you keep putting it off. So if we get them involved, we might have a decision today." Jessica grinned at Aaron before going into the kitchen. She came out a few minutes later with a cup of coffee for Aaron.

Aaron flipped through the books on Spencer's Kindle. Reading the titles and sometimes some of the chapter names. None of them were ones that Aaron felt he could read, and he looked at the store for the prices of some of them. It gave Aaron an estimate on what he thought would work for a book allowance.

There was little that Aaron could do with Spencer asleep on him. Jack had been passed that age for a while now, and it was nice to hold a sleeping kid again, even if for a little while. Though it spoke of what Spencer went without, even when he had two parents caring for him. Aaron wondered how much either of his parents actually touched him.

A knock on the door had Spencer stirring in Aaron's arms. He rubbed his face on Aaron's t-shirt and curled in tighter to Aaron. Aaron hugged Spencer back just a little tighter. Jessica quickly answered the door, and Aaron was greeted with the sounds of a cooing baby and Morgan.

The sound of little Spencer had big Spencer getting off of Aaron's lap and moving over to Callahan.

"Can I hold him, Miss Callahan?" Spencer asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Sure." Callahan handed over little Spencer with no hesitation even though Morgan looked like he wanted to walk with Spencer as he walked back to the couch with his little charge in hand. "Don't fuss, Morgan. He was wonderful on the trip home. Spencer helped me so much with him."

"Hello, Agent Morgan," Spencer said after he was settled in on the couch. Aaron got up and handed over the Kindle to Spencer. "Thank you, Sir."

"You are welcome, Spencer. I think Jessica has breakfast about ready. Are you hungry?"

"I don't know. I am thirsty."

"I'll get you some juice." Aaron reached out and ruffled Spencer's hair who glared at him, but there was no heat behind it.

"Why don't you finish up plating up all the food while I go get Jack ready?" Jessica asked.

"Sure." Aaron got Spencer his juice and took it to him. Morgan was sitting in the chair that Aaron and Spencer had been in while Callahan was at the opposite end of the couch from where Spencer was. There was enough food for all of them, including Morgan. Aaron put just a little more on Spencer's plate than he did Jack's mainly because Aaron had learned that Spencer ate whatever he was given, generally cleaning his plate. He was very easy to please and did everything that he could to make Aaron happy. Aaron was pretty sure that it would go away as he got used to where he was and Aaron's rules.

On a whim, Aaron picked up his cell phone and texted Dave to have him get ahold of New Haven and set up a tour for Spencer over the weekend and to put off Spencer's start date until Monday. While New Haven had a uniform code for the hours between the first class of the day and the last, outside of those hours, students who boarded there were not enforced to the uniform. Aaron would make sure that Spencer had enough clothes between both places to last him a while and if Spencer started to come home more instead of stay at New Haven, then more clothes could be brought from there. There was a laundry service that was part of the boarding fee, but it was based on how often Spencer actually stayed there and how many meals he ate while there and how often the laundry was used.

Dave texted back quickly that he would take care of it and would be around to escort them all to dinner that night. Aaron frowned at his friend because that meant Dave had reservations somewhere and that meant slightly fancy. Aaron though needed to make sure that Spencer had something nice to wear, which given his clothes wasn't going to be hard. Spencer went for nice clothes anyway. At some point, he would wake up enough to realize that he had pajamas still on and needed to change out of those with guests there, but Aaron would wait on that.

"Spencer," Jessica called as she entered the kitchen area. "Jack's awake, and he's done with the bathroom if you want to use it to wash up a little and change into the clothes you are going to wear today. Dress warmly please because we are going to be outside a good deal and it's still chilly out and will be all day."

"Yes. Miss Brooks." The sound of movement and then Spencer murmuring to Callahan could be heard then more movement, and Spencer passed by the kitchen area to head into the back of the apartment.

Jack wanted to see the baby, and the confusion on the name threw him, but as Aaron worked on the food while Jessica worked on the drinks, the sound of Jack talking to Callahan wafted over him. It wasn't shock that Callahan was the one that was sticking with Aaron on this one because she had taken in her niece after her sister and her husband died in 9-11. That was a big step for a couple. Just like Aaron taking in Spencer was a huge step.

"Anything I can do to help?" Spencer asked as he entered the kitchen. He was looking at the plates of food.

"Well, you can clear off the coffee table. There isn't enough seating as my table only sits three nicely and four a little squashed so we are going to eat in the living room. You and Jack will sit on the floor and eat on the coffee table while the adults eat sitting on the couch and in the chair."

"I can do that." Spencer rushed out of the room, so Aaron was sure that he was hungry. Spencer came back and started to carry in the drinks as Jessica finished pouring them, telling him who each one went to. Next, Aaron was done with the food, so he had Spencer carry in Jack's plate and then his own while Aaron got his and Morgan's while Jessica carried her's and Callahan's. Jack was eating on his while talking, chewing up the food and swallowing before talking, but Spencer wasn't eating.

"Spencer, we don't have rules about waiting for everyone to have their food in this house, not for breakfast and lunch that is. You can eat, sweetie," Jessica said.

"Okay."

Jessica looked at Aaron, and Aaron nodded. Jessica relaxed some. Aaron knew that she was worried about Spencer and him always waiting for someone to tell him to do anything. It as going to be an uphill battle and probably even a Sisyphean task but Aaron would turn him into a kid, even if it killed them both.

* * *

Aaron looked around the backyard of the house that they were looking at; it was the last on the list. Jack was getting a little restless with the looking at homes, but Spencer was a paragon of good. It worried Aaron a little. He didn't make comments, even when they had spent longer at the one house and therefore was very late for lunch. Jack had started to complain. Spencer had ended up entertaining him. That was something that was a little...off-putting to Aaron. That Spencer thought it was his job to take care of the other kids. If little Spencer cried and wasn't hungry or needing a nap, Spencer read to him. If Jack was bored, Spencer entertained him. That wasn't Spencer's job, but Aaron wasn't going to force Spencer into seeing what he was doing yet.

Up on the balcony off what was a secondary sitting room of sorts, Spencer was sitting with his legs hanging off the balcony. He was looking around at the backyard, and it was the first house that Aaron had even seen him looking at twice. Aaron looked at Morgan and grinned.

"Well, that's perfect. So the seller's of this house moved home to Chicago. The family needed them home. I'm the one 'selling' this house as I bought it off of them for below market value so they could just get out. So I'll sell it to you for the same price as long as you pay all the fees and crap."

"Morgan," Aaron said.

"No, Hotch. I bought it to help a friend, and I'm selling it to help a friend to help. Jack's already made the comment that the backyard was big enough to play soccer in. Spencer had brought up something about magic."

Aaron hadn't heard all of what Spencer said about magic. He hoped that with time, Spencer would come out of his shell. The room that Spencer was sitting in had another room attached to it that Morgan could easily turn into a library. Spencer liked the balcony, and Aaron saw no reason for him not to have that room. Jack liked the room that was closer to the master bedroom. Each bedroom had a bathroom attached to it, and it was one of the reasons why Aaron liked it. Three bedrooms. Aaron had the biggest while Jack had the second biggest and Spencer the smallest, but with the sitting room, it was about the same size as Jack's. It was a huge house but the three bedrooms on the top floor more than made up for it. A room on the ground floor could quickly become Aaron's office. The kitchen was big, with a dining area already attached. The rest of the ground floor was made up of a pretty good sized living room. Aaron was in love with the house, and Jack and Spencer seemed to like it.

"Okay."

"Good." Morgan tossed Aaron the keys. "Let's go and rent a big assed box truck and get you guys moved in today. Will's on hand to drive his truck. I thought that maybe he and Callahan could take Spencer to get him a bed. I doubt that he would go along with anyone that wasn't on the team."

"I don't know. Will's a cop. He might."

"Well, we will give Spencer that option."

Aaron looked up to where Spencer had been to see him gone. He was inside the house walking around, Aaron could just barely make him out in the reflection on the glass from the other room. Aaron nodded at Morgan before starting inside. He found Spencer sitting in a corner what was going to become his library.

"So you think you can live here?" Aaron asked.

"I don't see why not, Sir. I'm fairly confident that I can live anywhere." Spencer was looking at Aaron with a weird look on his face.

It didn't seem that humor was Spencer's strong suit at all which made Aaron laugh, internally, because if he asked him who had the worst sense of humor, Aaron wouldn't even be on the list because they thought he had no sense of humor.

"It's not meant to be taken literally, Spencer. I was asking you if you think you could be happy in this house?."

"Oh, sorry." Spencer looked around before focusing on Aaron once again. "I still can't answer that question because I don't know. I wasn't quite unhappy where I lived with mom, and I was downright unhappy in the house that we lived in with dad, but both of those were because of the people and not the house so really, apartment, house. I don't care."

Aaron wasn't sure what to say to that. He had a feeling that was going to be him for a long while with Spencer.

"JJ's husband Will, he's going to take his truck and go pick out a bed with you. Callahan has offered to go with you."

"I'll be fine by myself with Mister Jareau."

Aaron bit at his lip but held in the laughter because he had learned already that laughing at Spencer was not good. "Actually, Spencer when JJ got married she kept her last name. Her husband is William LaMontagne JR."

"Oh, he's the man whose father died in Katrina that was tracking a serial killer that your team ending up finding in New Orleans." Spencer looked more excited about talking about that than he had anything else in a long while. Aaron should be used to it, given the questions that Spencer peppered him with on occasion, when his want of knowledge was more than how he tried not to be annoying.

Aaron texted Will and told him to pick up Spencer as he was okay going with Will solo, and also warning him about what he was going to have with him. When Spencer got going, he was a chatterbox. When Aaron was putting up his phone, he stopped because the New Orleans case had been while Gideon was on the team and not Dave.

"How do you know that?"

"When the BAU came to Las Vegas I looked you guys up, your team especially, Agent Hotchner. It was one of the bigger cases that I found a lot of information on. There is a lot of information on your team if you follow Wikipedia and new sites enough." Spencer looked uncertain, and his eyes moved down to Aaron's abdomen and lower chest. Aaron got a really bad feeling. "I found a good bit of information about the Boston Reaper as well, things that were not in Agent Rossi's books. Theories and various things."

"One day, when you know me better, and I know you better, I'll tell you all about it."

"Okay, Agent Hotchner," Spencer said as he nodded his head.

Aaron wasn't sure that he wanted to know what Spencer had read online about the case. Aaron never went online to follow any of that. There was an Analyst who was paid to keep track of all of the BAU teams media presence digitally. Aaron never cared to read it, and only things that were relevant were tagged for him to read. A few articles bad mouthing the FBI and the way that the BAU handled cases were pushed above Aaron's head to take care of when it was more than an upset family member who lost someone when the BAU was on the case. There were many of them, lashing out when the BAU was too late to save someone. Aaron was pulled from his thoughts as his phone vibrated.

"Well, Will is here to pick you up." Aaron waved for Spencer to go first out the door and the young boy did. He walked down the steps carefully, making almost no sound. Aaron shook his head. The front door opened just as they were entering the living room. Will smiled at the two of them.

"You must be Spencer Reid," Will said. He stepped up and held out his hand. Spencer shook it. "My name's Will."

"Yes, Detective LaMontagne, I know."

WIll looked up at Aaron with a look of shock on his face. Will was used to Jack, calling him Uncle Will. Even other kids usually called him Will.

"What's my limit, Sir?" Spencer asked.

Aaron was still looking at Will, so he saw the mouthed Sir that the other man did. Aaron just shrugged at him and focused on Spencer. "You don't worry about money. You find something that you like. I make enough that unless you wanna spend more on your bed than my car, it will be fine."

Spencer didn't look like he liked that answer at all. Aaron looked up at Will, and Will had a grim face on. He was understanding what Aaron was going through.

"Whole bedroom set, Spencer. Including a desk and a reading chair."

Spencer cocked his head to the side, and Aaron was learning that it was what he did when he was thinking something through.

"There is no room in my bedroom for a desk, Sir."

"No, but there is room in the room attached to your bedroom."

"That's a sitting room."

Aaron crouched down to Spencer's level and made sure that Spencer was looking at him. "Jack's room is pretty big, and so you get the bedroom and the sitting room. I thought that maybe you would like to turn it into a library."

"But you need an office."

"And I'll have one on the ground floor."

"I don't need a library, Sir."

"Spencer, I know that you don't need a library, but I want you to have one. Or whatever you want to turn it into."

"Okay, Sir."

Aaron knew that he would have to push the name thing soon. He looked up at Will and nodded his head to the side. Will walked over to where Aaron pointed.

"Spencer why don't you go say goodbye to Callahan. Just in case she leaves before you get back."

"Okay."

"Wow, JJ said that he was a little different." Will was looking where the boy had gone and looked at the kid like he was looking at a puzzle that he couldn't figure out.

"He sold his bedroom stuff and was sleeping on a mattress on the floor because one month his father was late with money and he needed to make the rent on the place they were staying in. He has little to nothing that isn't his mother's or books. He has a lot of books. I figure once you find a desk that he likes we can plan the rest of the room around it once Morgan gets the room painted the way that Spencer wants. For now, everything is going to go into the sitting room while we work on Spencer's bedroom. See if you can get paint colors out of him. We are moving in today it seems. I figured we could work on Spencer's room first, then Jack's and Jack can stay in the sitting room. Then Jack moves back to his room, and we work on the library. I want Spencer in his room first."

"So he doesn't feel like an afterthought. What about you?"

"I still have the pullout couch that I used to have in my office at the old house. I'll get it out of storage and use it when it's time to paint my room. Morgan's already offered to help with all of that case willing. He's not flipping a house at the moment, so this will be good to keep him busy. I like the other living spaces, but my room is a light orange color. Orange, Will, orange."

"That's gonna be tough man."

Aaron smiled at Will and clasped him on the shoulder. "Thank you. I don't like sending him off with someone else, but I think that you might get a better response. He's good at doing what he thinks that I want. I want him to have what he wants. He looks at things a lot, but he focuses on the things he really wants."

"He sounds like an abuse victim."

"He is in one way. His mom didn't mean to abuse him, she tried her best, but the father, I blame him for leaving Spencer with a mentally unstable woman."

"What about therapy?"

"There is a counselor at New Haven that deals with bright children. Weekly sessions with most of the students are mandatory. Especially those like Spencer that have skipped grades. I'm kind of happy about that then Spencer doesn't think I'm putting him in therapy because something is wrong with him."

"I don't envy you, Hotch but you are a good man for taking him on like that. Not a lot would have."

"I think I hadn't, Callahan would have."

"They have a bond, just like you have with your team. He saved her life, even if he is a child, especially since he saved the life of her child as well."

Aaron nodded his agreeance to that. Spencer came back into the room. He was holding his messenger bag, which had been on the table in the kitchen. There hadn't been a lot of furniture left, Morgan had sold some of it or put it into other houses of his and the rest the couple had taken with them.

Will and Spencer were gone three hours, with Will taking Spencer to dinner in the middle of it. Jack was asleep on the couch in the living room as the sleeping furniture and the clothes and necessities were moved first. The rest could be got the next day. A few of Morgan's buddies helped carry the big things.

It was tiring, but it was a good day.

Jack passed out as soon as his bed was made up. Spencer was sleeping on a mattress on the floor even though there was a couch he could sleep on. Aaron was pretty sure that he slept in the chair the night before, so even a mattress on the floor probably was better.

Aaron found himself unable to sleep. He tossed and turn before deciding that maybe he just needed to get up and do something to wear himself out. He wandered down into the living room, finding the house strange, and that was probably why he didn't have the need to fall asleep. Aaron had got a lot better over the years about sleeping somewhere weird. There was the very different job, but dating Beth had got him used to first her place in DC followed by her place in New York.

Checking all of the doors in the house, Aaron found that the back door was unlocked and the alarm disabled. Aaron itched to go for his gun, but he saw a foot sticking out from the lone lounge chair that was on the back porch. Aaron walked to the living room to find a jacket for Spencer before he went outside. Spencer didn't move at all when the door was opened. Even with Spencer falling asleep early, there was still the time difference between Vegas and DC and the getting used to it.

Aaron rounded the edge of the lounge chair to find Spencer clutching a stuffed animal in his arms, a physical book lying limp on the chair where it had to have fallen from Spencer' hand when he finally fell asleep. Aaron wondered what he had been using to see and found that a book light was on the book, turned off or the battery dead. Aaron draped the jacket over Spencer and sat down on the edge of the lounge chair to watch him sleep for a few moments. When Aaron had checked on Spencer before he had gone to bed after getting his office sorted enough for him to do a little work on his work laptop and the wireless hotspot that Garcia dropped off for him until he got his phone, cable, and Internet transferred which was going to be that next day. Aaron had already called about it, and someone would be by early in the morning.

JJ, Callahan, and Jessica had gone shopping for food things, and so Aaron had plenty to eat and to feed the team when they came over the next day to help finish packing up the last few things at the apartment and then Aaron would be moved out. He was going to break his lease on the apartment, it was close enough to where the owner would probably not mind that much. Aaron was also pretty sure that he would like the fact that Aaron was gone. The man had been paranoid since Foyet had nearly killed Aaron, and no one in the apartment complex reported the gunshot.

Spencer shifted, and the book fell totally off the lounge chair. Spencer startled awake and screamed when he saw Aaron. Aaron didn't try and grab him or move at all, he just let Spence calm down and squint at him. Aaron realized that Spencer's glasses were not on his face. He looked around for them and stopped when Spencer pulled his glasses case from behind his body to put them on. Aaron realized that Spencer had put his glasses someplace safe while he slept. Aaron wondered precisely what kind of school life Spencer had before then. He hadn't asked much about it. He wondered now if he should have.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

"What are you sorry for, Spencer?" Aaron asked.

Spencer looked at Aaron like he was an idiot, but Aaron didn't react to him. It was a staring contest, and while Aaron did them with Jack because Jack thought they were fun, Aaron wasn't sure who was going to be the winner and if Aaron should concede because he had a feeling that if Spencer lost, Aaron was going to lose a part of him. The look on Spencer's face went from hard to unsure and back to something that looked a little like fear until finally, resignation hit. He looked away first.

"I'm sorry for coming out here without asking?" Spencer asked. He looked like a ten-year-old kid for the first time to Aaron. A little boy who was unsure if he was in trouble and not understanding how to take it because he had never been in trouble before. The only difference was that Spencer seemed to crave someone taking care of him. He was already too world-weary at ten, needing someone who was going to be the person to tell him no instead of him having to be that person.

"That's a good place to start. However, as I've told you, you are used to doing what you want when you want, and I'm not going to get bent out of shape if we have a few issues with you learning how to be a child who is told what to do."

Spencer wrapped the jacket tighter around his body and shivered a little. Aaron gave him a come here gesture, and Spencer nearly leaped across the space between them. Aaron settled Spencer on his lap and easily wrapped the jacket around him to keep him warm.

"I don't mind you coming out here and reading, but I would like to to be woken up before you go outside. That way I can make sure to check on you and put you in your bed when you fall asleep. I'm not the most strict parent in the world, Jack gets away with a lot of things that other kids don't, but he knew the hard and fast rules and what he can get away with and what he can't. You don't know me that well yet. You don't know what you can get away with and it kind of scares you, doesn't it?"

"A little."

"Because you don't know what to expect, so your mind equates me to your mom and some of her lashing out because of her illness."

"She didn't mean to hurt me." Spencer tried to fight out of Aaron's arms, but Aaron held him firm.

"Spencer!" Aaron said, and his tone was hard and sharp, but it was not loud. Spencer stopped struggling. "I know that she did not mean to hurt you, and I know that you love her. She loves wholeheartedly."

"It's why she gave me up. She's said it before, that she should and go into the hospital but she wasn't sure what kind of life I would have and was scared of that doing more damage than she was doing." Spencer pulled away so that he could look Aaron in the face. "She trusted you, though, even though you are an agent."

"She asked me a lot of questions. Wanted to see the pictures that I had of Jack. I showed her and told her a lot of stories about him. She trusted me with you, her most prized possession is what she called you."

"Oh." Spencer blushed a little and tipped forward. Aaron could feel the tiredness in his body. He was fighting it, but it was going to win. Aaron stayed quiet as Spencer slipped further and further under. He didn't move until he was sure that Spencer wasn't going to wake up. After laying Spencer in his bed, Aaron watched him sleep for a few minutes before checking on Jack. Jack's trauma was long over with. It was almost long forgotten. Aaron was the only one that woke with memories of that day on the anniversary.

Spencer's trauma, killing a man was a lot fresher, and Aaron was sure that it was going to smack them all in the face.

It wasn't until Friday night. The day spent with Spencer walking Morgan through the best way to paint the room. Morgan kept quiet in only the way a man who was used to indulging siblings could be. Aaron could see the grin though on Morgan's face when Spencer lectured him.

Aaron had gone to sleep with a tired body, which was better than a tired mind in his book. He went to bed too much with a mind that was too tired with the evils of the world.

Waking up and not knowing why Aaron stayed still. His entire body was ready for something to happen, and his mind was done pushing past sleep even as he realized he was awake. Aaron tried to listen to the room, but there was only the sound of the heat. It was still getting a little cool at night, so Aaron was glad that the thermostat swapped between the two easily when the temperature got too high or too low.

Aaron felt the bed shaking, and he reached out to lay his hand on it and try and figure out why it was shaking. There had been no call for a storm, and earthquakes were not a big thing in the DC area. Aaron felt that the shaking was worse where he had his hand. He turned his head, and the light from the moon showed Aaron that there was a lump in the bed with him. Aaron knew instantly that the lump had to be Spencer. Jack would have woken up Aaron and cuddled against him, but Spencer wasn't used to Aaron yet, didn't trust him fully. Oh, he trusted Aaron enough to live with him, but for showing the weak parts of himself, there was a lot that needed to be done to get that going.

Spencer was curled in a ball, tight and shivering with what Aaron was sure were tears. Aaron didn't know what to do. He wanted to reach out and pull Spencer to him. Hold Spencer like he had done to Jack when Jack had woke up with nightmares from hearing his mother being shot to death. Aaron didn't know what Spencer would do if Aaron did. Aaron didn't want to scare him, and he didn't want to make Spencer leave. But Spencer over there crying and feeling alone wasn't going to make Spencer feel better. So Aaron slowly rolled onto his side, like he was doing it while asleep. Spencer still as much as he could and Aaron heard the heat kick off, and then the soft sounds of crying could be heard by Aaron.

The clouds had to have moved outside because Aaron could see better with the new light in the room. Spencer was curled at the absolute edge of the bed and hadn't even got under the covers. He was just laying there in a ball and cold. Aaron knew that he would need to grab Spencer's arm to stop him from going off the side of the bed, so he did it quickly and without gripping too tight. Spencer only gasped as Aaron grabbed his arm. Aaron hauled him across the gap between them, and when Spencer was dropped there in front of him, he grabbed the blankets and pulled that side over the young boy.

"It's okay, Spencer," Aaron said before wrapping his arm around him. "I'm here, and I'll protect you."

Spencer cried a little harder at that for a few minutes, but after that, he cried himself to sleep. It felt good though that there was enough of a trust between the two of them that Spencer even felt good enough to sleep in bed with Aaron.

* * *

Life settled into a routine for Aaron and his two kids. Aaron went on cases, Spencer started to New Haven and loved the school, Jack tried to bond with Spencer and mostly failed but Spencer tried back, and it still failed. Aaron knew that him stepping in wouldn't help. The kids weren't mean to each other, but it was sad to see them trying and it failing. There was nothing in common between them. Jack like video games, and Spencer didn't. Spencer like science and math, while Jack's favorite subject was reading. It should have been good, but Spencer couldn't stand to read the books that Jack did. Spencer read Aaron's spy mysteries after Aaron found him sneaking one to read when he had run out of books from the school library one weekend that Aaron was home.

Jessica tried to connect to Spencer, but it was hard when Spencer wasn't interested in having a female figure in his life that could try and replace his mother. Aaron understood where Spencer was coming from, and it would take time for Spencer to realize that him liking another woman as an adult figure wouldn't replace his mother. Aaron had stepped seamlessly into role as a father because Spencer had already shoved that spot empty of William Reid long before Aaron had stepped into the picture.

Sometimes when Aaron was on a case, Jessica could talk Spencer into staying that first night with her and Jack at the house but never more than that and even then she lost more than she won on that front. Aaron didn't try and force it, but he did try and talk Jessica into other things.

Jack got bored during summer vacation, and Aaron heard him once say that he would like a year-round school because then the breaks were shorter and there were more of them. Aaron wondered about seeing the entrance exam for New Haven and seeing if Jack wanted to go. He didn't, not at that time. Aaron would wait until Spencer was a little more settled or if he chose not to graduate the school year that started in under a month, see if he minded if Jack went with him.

"Sir?" Spencer asked.

Aaron looked to the left to look at Spencer who had crept up on him while he mused it seemed. Spencer had his paper plate with a bright purple plastic holder to make sure it didn't collapse in his hands. There was a little bit of the potato salad left on it and a lot of the three bean salad. Aaron thought that he didn't like that much.

"Yes, Spencer?" Aaron asked.

Jack screeched from where he was playing with Henry. They had both rushed through eating to be able to play. Aaron let his hearing pick up the chatter of the team at the cookout at Dave's. The man had graciously allowed the use of his very state of the art grill for the team cookout. He was even supplying the alcohol. Which Aaron was drinking little of. Aaron had a tumbler of scotch when he got there and had switched to water until it was time to eat. Garcia had brought him by a wine cooler of some kind that was named really weird and it was something about making someone happy.

"Can I get more of the chicken?"

"You can get whatever you want. If you want to get a clean plate, I can toss out that three bean salad."

"Don't tell Miss Garcia that I didn't like it please?" Spencer begged.

"Spencer, she's not going to care. No one can make themselves like something that they don't. I'm glad that you were brave enough to try it, but you don't have to eat more of it." Aaron reached out and took the plate from Spence, who handed it over with ease.

"Hotch, come settle this debate!" Morgan yelled.

Aaron liked to see where Callahan's husband, Morgan, and Will were all talking around the grill. It was off, but they had been gathered around it since they had all fought over the cooking of the food. It was a playful fight, but it had been entertaining. They had all three won. So Will cooked the chicken which was a recipe from Dave, Chris Callahan had cooked the burgers, and Morgan the brats.

"I don't need help, Sir."

"Okay." Aaron handed over the plastic holder and tossed the other plate into the trash. Aaron walked over to where Morgan was but kept an eye on Spencer. He took two of the medium-sized pieces of chicken as well as a small helping of the potato salad and a sizable scoop of the bootlegger beans that Aaron had made. Aaron would have to make those more often. It was easy enough to do in smaller batches.

"So what's this debate?" Aaron asked.

Aaron listened as Morgan laid out a scenario to him. The sound of Jessica talking to someone drew Aaron's gaze away, and he saw that Spencer had tripped it seemed. Aaron turned to head that way but stopped when Jessica crouched to help him. Dave was walking over as well. Aaron stayed where he was, tuning Morgan out. Aaron saw that Spencer was bleeding a little bit, Jessica grabbed a napkin to staunch the blood flow. Callahan walked over to start picking up the plate of food. Her eyes were looking at it carefully, and then she was looking at the table. She was probably going to get Spencer the same things over again. Dave picked up two different rocks, one that Aaron could see a little blood on.

Only Spener would find the two rocks in the yard that would damage him. He shook his head. Jessica helped Spencer up as they got an escort inside to take care of the cut. Dave had a well-stocked first aid kit, all of the BAU did because even small injuries were very common among them.

"He's doing better," Morgan said.

Aaron turned around to look at him. He had a fond smile on his face.

"He is. The counselor at school says that he is doing really good there and feels safe enough finally to debate with teachers, which a few of them are kind of regretting."

"Oh yeah?" Will asked.

"Yes, there are still some subjects that Spencer knows a little better than some of the teachers, and he's won a few debates in class or had them going to look up an answer to a question that they can't answer. I haven't told Garcia yet, but he's doing really well in his technology classes and seems to have a mind for code. He's not shown a true interest though, so that's why I haven't told her."

"I'd wait until he's a little more used to Garcia before doing that. You know she will latch onto him."

"Yes, I'm well aware."

"What else does he like?"

"Math and science which coding is just an extension of math so I can actually understand that. He's been looking at colleges on this coast, and actually all over the country instead of just on the West Coast. He told me that he had wanted to go to Caltech because it was close to his mother, but he wasn't sure if there was another college that he would like better."

"What about MIT?"

"He wrinkled his nose at that one, so I marked it off the list." Aaron smiled because coming home one day after a long day of meetings to see Spencer in the living room with college pamphlets spread everywhere with Spencer in the middle with Aaron's personal laptop on his lap had been adorable. Aaron had profiles on the laptop for both kids so that they could use it for homework. Aaron didn't allow too much personal fun time on it. He had allowed Spencer's college hunt because it wasn't technically homework related, but it was school related. The discussion that ensued had Aaron being interrogated about his college days. Spencer had a little reaction to hearing that Aaron had worked as a lawyer, but Aaron figured it was a reminder of his father.

"Not MIT but he likes Caltech?" Chris asked.

"I think Caltech is a sentimental choice more than one that is something he truly wants. It's safe because it's close to his other home." Aaron heard laughing and turned to see Spencer exiting into the backyard with Jessica close to him and Dave behind them. Spencer had a purple bandage on his knee and a sucker in his hand. Aaron shook his head because he could see Dave having those on hand for the kids to get them to stop crying if they hurt themselves.

Callahan walked up to Spencer with a plate of food, a near copy of what he had before as well as a glass of lemonade. Typically the lemonade ended up spiked because Jack and Henry didn't like it that much and stuck to water or a can of pop when it came time to eat. Spencer though seemed to love it, so Aaron made sure that no one spiked it.

"Thank you, Kate," Spencer said just loud enough that Aaron could hear it. Aaron smiled at the use of the first name. He didn't feel jealous because he still hadn't got Spencer to use Aaron, but then there was still the little strong bond between the two of them that even Aaron couldn't touch.

"How is he doing with that?" Chris asked.

"He's doing a lot better. He is very logical, so the act of killing another person really does not factor to him. He knows that he did it and he knows that under normal circumstances that it's wrong to kill, but he knows that he saved two lives with that one act and that was what made it good. But the emotions from it sometimes get him at night. Here he crawls into bed with me and tries not to wake me but his shaking with the crying usually does, and I pull him close. He has thankfully started to get under the blanket instead of just staying on top. The school thinks that he's doing better with it than most kids, but that has some to do with how fast he had to grow up after his father left."

"I'm glad. Kate still wakes on occasion and checks on little Spencer. Thinking that she's dreamed it all and she lost him to the killer, and she lived. It's not as often as it was and she's still seeing the FBI therapist on that. Even if I don't think they are quite able to handle that all the way, they try and it's enough."

"I'm glad that she's doing good with that." Aaron watched Callahan as she talked to Spencer.

"So there is a big storm coming this week," Morgan said. The topics turned mundane after that, no mention of work.

The four of them stayed until it was too dark to see, and Jack and Spencer were asleep on the couches that Dave had in the backyard. Henry was asleep on JJ as she sat in a comfortable chair. Jessica packed up their things and then carried them out while Aaron picked up Spencer to get him into the car. Spencer clutched at him tightly as he tried to settle him down. Aaron had to wake, him up to get him to let go.

"I'll be right back, Spencer. I've just got to go and get Jack."

"Promise?" Spencer asked.

"I promise."

"Okay," Spencer said as he let Aaron buckle him in and shut the door. Jessica was smiling at Aaron before she slipped into the passenger seat of the car. It wasn't long before Aaron was back with Jack, who never woke up at all while Aaron manhandled his limp body into the car and fastened him in.

"He did good today," Jessica said as Aaron buckled himself into the car. He looked back into the backseat to see that Spencer was still asleep.

"He did. He's getting better. I think that a cookout was a good idea instead of a team meal at a restaurant. Spencer felt less like everyone was looking at him, and he could do what he wanted. Though I think he only read two books instead of the normal five during the time here. He spent a lot of time looking at Dave's garden."

"Yes, and Dave had to ruin the impression that he did it alone. He had no clue what any of the plants were."

Aaron laughed and started up the car. It had been a really good day.

* * *

"STOP!" Dave yelled at Aaron as he fought against the hold the orderlies were trying to keep Aaron pinned in with. Aaron needed to get to Spencer and check on him. He knew that it was all a delusion that Peter Lewis had made him see, but he couldn't get the sight of Spencer on the floor dead by Aaron's own hand out of his head.

"We really don't want to knock him out, Agent Rossi not without having the tox screen back but we can't have him like this," someone else said, and Aaron tried to focus on them. It was an older man who looked kind.

"Aaron, please settle down," Dave pleaded.

"Sir?" Spencer's voice asked. Aaron looked around for it, and then he saw that Callahan was entering the room with a tablet in her hand. Aaron could see that Spencer was there on the screen of it. He was dressed in the new pajamas that Aaron had got for him after he had grown nearly two inches in what seemed like a single day. The pajamas were light blue with dark purple Pi signs all over them. Morgan had found them online, and Aaron had ordered them as soon as the other agent had shown him.

"Spencer," Aaron was finally able to say. He looked at Spencer and was smiling at him. Spencer was okay.

"Miss Jessica said that you were hurt," Spencer said. His eyes were moving up and down Aaron's body looking for an injury spot that was worse than the bump on the head that he had.

"I kind of am." Aaron relaxed on the bed, and the orderlies stepped back. Callahan stepped up with the tablet and handed it over. "One of the men we were chasing gave me something that made me see things."

"Hallucinations. Those aren't good. Do you want me to get Jack?"

"No, no. It was you I saw."

"Why?"

"Because the man made me see one of my worst fears and right now that's you. You being hurt when I am around or you leaving."

"Oh," Spencer's tone said that he didn't know how to process that. Aaron though said nothing. Spencer would process it, and he would give Aaron a clue how to react. The tablet was silent for at least three minutes.

"Agent Rossi," the doctor said.

"Agent Hotchner saw himself killing the child that he adopted a few months ago, Doctor. This is that child. Getting him calm is going to be better in the long run. You've already drawn blood, and the physical exam can wait until he's calmed down some."

"You are right." The doctor didn't sound like he knew how to process what Dave said.

"I thought that only kids were bad patients?" Spencer asked.

Dave snorted, and Aaron glared at him, but Callahan was giggling silently. He knew that he had lost that front.

"I think that most of my team and I had been patients too much to not be anything but bad patients."

"That doesn't make sense being patients that much should make you be better as you know what to do and what not to do."

"But we don't want to be here, and that's why we are bad patients."

"But you were given something that obviously had you seeing things that were not there. You are not just able to...what what it that you said walk it off? Yes, you are not able to walk this one off. You need the help of a doctor."

Aaron wanted to glare at Spencer, but he didn't. He settled back into the bed and looked up at Spencer holding the tablet up to where Spencer could see his face. "I'll be good if you go back to sleep."

"I've been up for an hour. I was in my room reading when Miss Jessica came in and told me that you wanted to talk to me." Spencer didn't look tired, but Aaron figured that the storm had woke him up the night before and his sleeping schedule was very messed up.

"How do you feel about staying up for me and maybe taking a nap with me when I get home?"

"Can we watch that one movie to fall asleep?"

"We can. I think I remembered where I fell asleep last time."

Spencer's nightmares were mostly gone, but when he did have one, it stopped him from being able to get to sleep by just being with Aaron, so Aaron had been working through movies that Aaron had watched with Jack when he was younger. Spencer was taking them in like a sponge. He didn't always understand why the kids did what they did in the movies, but he at least enjoyed them enough to keep wanting to do it with Aaron. Even if Aaron was still called Sir. Agent Hotchner had been dropped thankfully, and Jessica was Miss Jessica. In fact, the whole team was Mister or Miss so and so. Aaron didn't take it to heart. Spencer had an obvious affection for Aaron, and that was enough.

"So do what you are supposed to do and be good. Miss Kate will tell me if you are not a good patient." Spencer was glaring at Aaron, and Aaron kept in the laughter that was trying to break free. He nodded his head and cut the feed to the camera before handing it over.

"Well, it looks like Callahan wins on the Aaron watching duty. I'm going to go and check on everyone else. Aaron, be good, or I'll sic the kid on you again."

Aaron laughed and laid his head back. He felt bone tired now that he had settled down some. He didn't think that he would make it through five minutes of the movie when he got home.

"So it's still, Sir, huh?" Callahan asked.

"Always, but it's okay. It's kind of grown on me. I don't know what he called his dad. He used to call him William, but now it's my other father, which shouldn't make me as happy as it does."

"You've taken it to mean that you are a father figure in his life. The only logical reason for him to call someone the other father is if he has another in his mind that has taken over that role."

"You know I took him in because I couldn't see anyone else taking care of him the way that he needed. I didn't trust anyone else. I didn't think that love would come into play. Affection, yes, but love? I know that blood doesn't mean love and love doesn't mean that I love Jack less, but still the emotion has blindsided me. I just wish that it hadn't been an UnSub making me seeing Spencer's dead body that made me understand that I loved him."

"You need to tell him. He needs to know this. You tell Jack you love him all the time and he needed to understand that you love him. I've been having less trouble with Meg since I've been telling her that I love her every day. I love her no less than I do my Spencer and she knows it now."

"I'll tell him when I see him after the tox screen comes back." Aaron closed his eyes because the sleepiness was taking over, but he knew that he needed to stay awake.

It felt like a year before Aaron was released. Dave was the only one left, ready to drive him home. He was released, but he had to get tox screens done every day at his personal doctor's office to make sure that that what he was dosed with was leaving his system as it should be.

The trip home took forever, and Aaron's leg was bouncing in the car non-stop as he watched the world pass him by, and he got closer and closer to home. Dave said nothing the whole trip, understanding that Aaron wasn't holding on well at all.

When Dave pulled into the driveway, Aaron didn't even say goodnight or thanks. He just got out with his keys in hand and let himself into the house. He turned off the alarm and then reset it. Spencer was sitting on the couch with his legs tucked up to his chest, and he looked about as good as Aaron felt. He was fighting sleep just as much as Aaron was.

Aaron ran at him, grabbing him up into a hug. He was sure that he was holding Spencer too hard, but he didn't care. Spencer wrapped his legs around Aaron's stomach and back, holding on tight before tightening his arms around Aaron's neck. Aaron felt hot tears running down his face.

"I love you, Spencer," Aaron said loud enough that there would be no way for Spencer to miss the words. Spencer didn't say anything back, but he gripped Aaron's neck even tighter.

Aaron turned around to sit them down on the couch. He felt the fatigue set onto him. He settled in with Spencer on his lap, unwrapping Spencer's legs, so he didn't squash them.

Not sure when he went to sleep, Aaron felt someone else cuddle into his side, and he removed one of his arms from Spencer to wrap around Jack. Aaron felt that there was a blanket over him and over Spencer. It was warm, and it was nice, feeling Spencer's weight on him. Jack wiggled under the blanket, and Aaron knew that he would pay for falling asleep on the couch sitting up, but he didn't care.

"So I know you are barely awake, but I wanted to let you know that while you were on the case, Spencer invited his counselor over for lunch today. I'm going to go and shop for that early this morning while you are all asleep."

"What time is it?" Aaron asked.

"Just before six. Sleep, Aaron you had a hard night if what Kate And Spencer told me is even half true and we both know that it's probably not even all of the truth. So sleep, and I'll be back."

Aaron felt a kiss on his forehead and knew that Jessica was just reassuring him that she was there. Jessica was a godsend. For staying to help him take care of Jack and for wanting to even have any part of Spencer's life.

Just after ten, Aaron woke up and was too warm, too stiff, and he felt like an elephant was asleep on his chest. He found that he was asleep on his back on the couch with Spencer still mostly on top of him with Jack wedged between him and the back of the couch. He was sure that the picture that it made was cute, but he needed up. The hospital had given him fluids when his blood work showed a little dehydration, probably from the sweating that was caused by what Lewis had given him.

Jack was easy to get away from, but Spencer was clutching his shirt like it was the only thing keeping him alive. Aaron worked his fingers free and laid him down beside Jack on the couch.

Aaron rushed to the half bath down the hall that was close to his office and used the facilities. He looked at his face and saw that he was still worn out. Opening the door to get some air circling in the room as it felt warm with no air, Aaron thought about what he wanted to do for the day. It would be a lazy day. He had been given the week off of work by the doctor. Hell, after the case, Aaron was glad of that. He wanted to be home with Jack and Spencer. He didn't want to have to think about serial killers. He knew that he had to get his case file done, but that wouldn't take long. He had already given his statement to Dave, out at the house and then again after he had been given counteractants at the hospital. It matched up the same.

Peter Lewis was the second UnSub that Aaron had killed that had threatened his children. No one, just like last time, faulted him for it. Lewis was the one that opened that door. Aaron didn't fear the discussion that was going to happen. Aaron wasn't going to lie to the FBI about what he had seen. If a single one of them would be okay after seeing their child shot in front of them and felt nothing than Aaron didn't want to work for them anymore. Just like Foyet, Lewis would have got out of prison, in some way shape or form and wasn't going to stop in his pursuit of going after Aaron.

"Aaron?" a little voice asked.

Aaron turned around to see Spencer rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Aaron crouched down, and Spencer shuffled right to him, hugging him.

"Sorry, Spencer I needed to use the bathroom."

"It's okay. Did I dream of you coming home?" Spencer asked.

Aaron wondered what Spencer wanted to know until he realized that Spencer thought that Aaron telling him that he loved him had a been dream.

"No, no, you didn't." Aaron pulled out of the hug to ruffle Spencer's hair. It was shorter, and Aaron thought it looked like a boy band haircut, but Spencer liked it. "I love you, Spencer."

"I love you too, Aaron," Spencer said, and he threw himself at Aaron even though they were not that far apart.

Aaron felt good despite everything as Spencer clung to him again, muttering the words over and over again. Everything felt kind of right.

* * *

It had become routine, picking Spencer up from school where he stayed late to do fun things, which Aaron was still trying to figure out how doing more schoolwork was fun but he let Spencer do whatever he wanted when it came to that. Aaron got off early enough at least twice a week to do it. Spencer still didn't like having Jessica pick him up if Aaron was in town, so Spencer always found a reason to stay late at school. Today it had been the new computers that had been donated by a tech company.

Spencer was alone in the computer lab with a man that Aaron recognized from somewhere. He wondered how he had got to know a tech geek from a tech company.

"Mister Grimes, that's really cool," Spencer said. He was leaning over the shoulder of the man as he typed something on the computer. The screen changed, and then there was a small video playing. It wasn't until Aaron saw the man in the video that he realized that the tech company that had donated computers was Grimes Tech and that a lowly tech had not be sent out to install them but that Jackson Grimes, CEO of the company had done it himself.

Jackson Grimes was the kind of man that made everyone look at him twice. His hair was kind of a mess, but his face was handsome. Aaron felt his body temperature start to rise, and he unbuttoned the first few buttons on his shirt. The tie was in the backseat of the car already. Aaron watched as Grimes showed Spencer a few more things on the computer. Spencer was enthralled with whatever it was and what it was went over Aaron's head, but he was used to that. Aaron had to get used to things going over his head. Spencer though was kind when he explained things better, and he never got frustrated with Aaron for not understanding something. Aaron got frustrated, but he never let it show for fear of Spencer, thinking it was at him.

"I don't have a laptop or a computer, not one that's my own. Mister Hotchner offered, but I can use his computer and the ones here in the lab for everything that I do. I don't want Jack to feel left out if I get one and he doesn't."

"Does Jack need a computer for his school work?" Grimes asked.

Spencer just ducked his head and didn't answer, and it was a tell that Aaron knew well over the time of living with Spencer. Spencer knew that he was caught, but he didn't want to voice that he did need something. It had been the same with glasses when Aaron had taken him to a new prescription on his lenses. Spencer had been fine with his frames, even though Aaron knew that he tightened the arms of the frames nearly every day. Spencer hadn't fought Aaron when he made him pick out new frames.

Aaron knew that Jack was afraid of kind of the same thing. Aaron had asked him if he wanted to go to the New Haven as well as Aaron was pretty sure that Jack could get in for at least the normal classes. Jack though had been afraid that Spencer would think that he was stepping on his toes. Aaron wondered if either of them would ever hit the point of acting like normal siblings would and not caring so much about making the other happy. Aaron wasn't sure which he wanted because while this wasn't that stressful just a minor issue in cases like now, the fighting that would come out of them acting the other way was not something Aaron was looking forward to.

"Come on, Spencer. Answer me, please. Does Jack need a computer for his school work?" Jackson asked.

"No, not yet. Not really. He can do things on Mister Hotchner's computer without bothering Mister Hotchner."

"And given what you have said of Jack and Mister Hotchner today, do you think if you needed it, Mister Hotchner would deny it to you?"

"No."

"Do you think Jack would be upset that you got something that you needed? He doesn't get upset when you get new glasses, does he?"

"No." Spencer glared at Grimes, but Grimes just laughed and reached out to ruffle Spencer's hair. Spencer ducked and backed away with a grin.

"Finally ducked my hand, huh?" Grimes stiffened in his seat and turned his head to look at Aaron. He looked like he was about to start yelling for security or something when Spencer gasped.

"Mister Hotchner, sorry I wasn't outside waiting. I lost track of time." Spencer started to run to where his things were spread over the table near where the computers were. Grimes stood up and walked toward Aaron.

"Jackson Grimes, Sir. I was keeping young Spencer here company and having him help me make the final adjustments to the new content blocker that I am test running here."

"You donated the computers and are using the kids here as a lab rats?" Aaron asked with a smile.

"Well, these are some of the brightest kids. If there is a way around what I have created then well...they are going to be the ones to do it."

Aaron stuck out his hand for a shake and realized that Grimes was looking Aaron up and down. Aaron tried to fight the blush that wanted to appear on his face. The grin that Grimes gave him told Aaron that he was not successful in hiding the blush.

"Ready, Mister Hotchner," Spencer said.

Aaron kind of missed the Sir but out in public, they had decided that maybe it would be best to call him Mister Hotchner instead of Sir all of the time when a few raised eyebrows at dinner one night had made Aaron feel like crap.

"Spencer," Grimes said, and Spencer turned to face him head-on.

"Yes, Mister Grimes?" Spencer asked.

"What are you doing tomorrow after school lets out?"

Aaron wasn't sure why Grimes wanted to know, but Aaron would let him talk before he said yes or no.

"I have a meeting with my psychologist right after school, but she comes to me here for it and then I will either be picked up by Miss Jessica if Mister Hotchner has to go away on a case or when Mister Hotchner gets done with work for the day he will pick me up. Why?"

"I have a few more things to do to the security system and the teachers computers tomorrow, and I was going to do it after school let out and I wouldn't mind a helper for the teacher computers. I'll work on the security system while you are in therapy and then we can work on the computers together."

Aaron wondered if it was just Grimes liking Spencer's mind and being intrigued by it or something worse. Aaron knew that his job painted everything that he did, but he didn't want to deny Spencer a friend who could keep up with him if there was nothing bad going on with him. Aaron would do a deeper search into Jackson Grimes when he got home on his work laptop. Spencer using his computer in the office for hours at a time wasn't a big deal. Aaron had started to bring home his laptop more and used it for his own things.

"If Mister Hotchner agrees," Spencer said.

"Of course," Aaron said with a smile on his face. The smile tath Grimes gave him was bordering on leer and Aaron wasn't sure how he felt about that. Aaron had never felt an attraction to men before. He had seen male bodies that he liked to look at, or he appreciated a lovely face on a male, but he had never felt anything like this before. Aaron knew that it wasn't the end of the world. He would just have to figure out how he felt before he even broached anything with Grimes or any other male. Aaron did not want to start something only to find that despite liking his face or his form that Aaron couldn't get past what he was feeling.

"Good then. I'll be here in the computer lab when I am done so if I am not here, just hang around and I'll be here as soon as I am done with the security system."

"That sounds like a lot of fun, Mister Grimes." Spencer was smiling as he said the words. He finished up grabbing his things and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He usually didn't have homework as New Haven didn't give daily homework like regular schools and the only thing that the kids had to do at home was reading things that did not get finished in class or papers for literature or history class. Spencer usually worked on fun things that home that he didn't get a chance to learn in classes.

Aaron was all for Spencer having fun things to do. Sometimes he gave in to things that his mother didn't think he should do, but he did them as long as Jack did them with him. He was learning to be a kid at the same time as getting ready to go to college.

"Spencer, why don't you go on out to the car and I'll join you as quick as possible."

"Yes, Mister Hotchner. Goodbye, Mister Grimes. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow, Spencer." Grimes kept the smile on his face until Spencer was gone from the computer lab. "I'm sorry that I didn't introduce myself before. I was a little distracted. Jackson Grimes."

"Aaron Hotchner."

"Oh, the FBI agent?" Grimes asked.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I remember the incident with a man who had attacked an FBI agent and then went after his family. It was never given, but I did hear the name of the man who ran the team Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner. It's a rare enough last name and to pair with Aaron as a first. I won't tell you the odds of there being someone else in the area with the exact same name."

"And you remember the names of all FBI agent's who are attacked in their homes?" Aaron asked. He didn't want to remember that day, but it was hard with someone bringing it up.

"No, I just remember the picture that was with the very handsome but serious man."

"What exactly are your intentions with my son?"

"Nothing bad, unless you call making sure that he has fun a bad intention. I guess maybe I should have asked that part first. There are a few parents of geniuses like him that feel that they should only be about education."

"If I had wanted him to have that kind of life don't you think I would have put him in one of those cookie cutter boarding schools that don't even allow the children to laugh?"

Grimes grinned at Aaron's words.

"Trying to make him have fun is a little daunting at times. His mother focused too much on making him smart, and his father didn't care about him at all."

"I know that well."

"Do you?"

"My parents pushed me to go through school faster, better. I just wanted to have fun while I learned. I still went through everything faster than most kids but not as fast as Spencer."

"He was on this path before I got him. Set to graduate high school at twelve and then be in college that fall before he even turns thirteen. I'm trying to honor what he wanted, wants, and what his mother wanted. Though I find that the time spent with me has already lessened him. He changed his class schedule for this year, and while he will have what is needed to graduate high school, he's talked about wanting to take a few other classes here next year. I had hoped he would but have not pushed him."

"You are doing good with him, what little I have seen. It threw me a little when I asked about his parents, and he said that his mom was sick and that he was living with Mister Hotchner. Look, I know that things have got to be a little touch, most parents grow up with their kid being smart you were kind of thrown into the deep end." Grimes stepped closer and handed over a business card. Aaron saw that there was his office number, but underneath was a cell phone number as well as an email handwritten in.

"Are these to be used just to talk about Spencer?" Aaron asked.

"That depends on what you decide, Agent Hotchner. If you decide that you can handle someone like me, please do call about anything you want. If you decide that you can't handle someone like me, use it for anything to do with Spencer. I've never raised a genius child, but I know what worked with me."

"I'll call you one way or another the first time that I figure out what I want."

"Okay, then." Grimes smiled at Aaron before turning around to sit on the chair in front of the computer again.

Aaron tucked the business card into his wallet before he nodded at Grimes's back and walked out of the school. Spencer was waiting in the horseshoe driveway that was the pickup and drop off point for kids. Spencer was leaning against the car with something in his hand. Aaron frowned because it wasn't something that Aaron had given him.

"What do you have there?" Aaron asked.

"Oh. Mister Grimes is having Miss Angelo's literature class try out a new E-Reader. Mister Grimes has it so that it's also like a computer. There is a keyboard that comes with it so that we can type that way or by hand on the touch screen. It's to write essays and answers questions and able to submit them to the school's submission portal on the website. He wants to see who can crash the hard drive on it first."

"I see and?"

"I did it in three minutes after attaching the keyboard. So he played with mine a little and told me to try that again. It didn't work that time." Spencer was grinning. He turned the E-Reader around and saw that the screen wasn't like a lot of the other ones. It looked a lot like regular paper. Aaron knew that the Kindle had screens like that, but he didn't know if Kindle's could do anything like what this one could do.

"And how much is it?"

"Oh, no Mister Hotchner, Mister Grimes is trying to see what bugs we can come up with. One of the tech classes got them too. He wants to see what we can get them to do before he starts to mass produce them. He called us test subjects. It logs all of our keystrokes and the things that we do on it. Each one has access to several other books sites, and there is even a little bit of money on each to download books. More can be added, and there is a flyer on that." Spencer dove into his backpack and came up with the flyer. Aaron saw that his name was on it.

"Why don't we look at that at home? Jessica was putting a lasagna in the oven when she last texted me."

"And garlic bread?" Spencer asked.

"And garlic bread. Dessert was a secret though." Aaron smiled and unlocked the car. Spencer got into the front seat. His backpack at his feet and his E-Reader in his lap. He was buckled before Aaron got in. That was one thing that was nice. Jack started to buckle up all the time instead of having to have Aaron tell him mainly because he was sick of hearing Spencer reminding him to. Spencer was very safety oriented, and it showed.

"Mister Hotchner," Spencer said at the third stop light from the school.

"Yes, Spencer?"

"Is it too late to get that laptop that you offered at the beginning of the school year?"

"No, Spencer. It's not. We can go shopping this weekend."

"Okay." Spencer's head ducked back down to look at his E-Reader before his head came up again. "Thank you."

"You are welcome, Spencer."

* * *

Aaron really thought that things were going well. Spencer had gone from calling him Sir to Mister Hotchner, and now it was just Aaron. Jack kept trying to cajole him into calling Aaron dad, but it wasn't working. Still, Aaron thought that he had it down. Aaron had his head on the door to Spencer's room where he was reminding Aaron that while he wasn't quite there, he was getting near teenage years and Aaron was asking himself why he had taken him in so close to puberty.

"Spencer, please open the door." Aaron wasn't going to force the door open even though he had a key. He had promised himself that he wasn't going to be like that. If Spencer didn't want him in there, he would stay out. It would not, however, stop him from yelling at the door.

"You promised that you would never make me do something that I don't want to do, as long as it wasn't going to the doctor or something. I want to stay home and read not go out to dinner!" Spencer near yelled. It was the first time that Aaron had never heard him raise his voice like that. Aaron looked down the hall to see Jackson, Jessica, and Jack. Aaron shook his head at the fact that all three had J names.

Jessica waved for Aaron to come toward where they were. Aaron kept on going though. Down into the living room and where everything had been good up until Jackson had arrived. Spencer and Jackson emailed back and forth a lot, and there were even a few phone calls on Aaron's cell phone when Aaron was home. Aaron was pretty sure that Jackson was the first friend that Spencer had ever made. He wasn't sure exactly where this was coming from, but he was pretty sure.

"I'm sorry," Aaron said to Jackson and Jessica. Jack was hanging behind, and he looked like he wanted to go back upstairs. Aaron waved for him to do so. Jack took off running, and Aaron didn't have the heart to tell him to walk.

"Why are you saying sorry?" Jackson asked. Jackson guided Aaron over to the couch and pushed him down into it. Aaron sighed as he relaxed down into it.

"We had a nice dinner with the kids planned out, and now it's kind of ruined."

"No, it's only ruined if I go home and you and the kids don't eat. We can order something in and make an attack plan on what's wrong with him."

"Schools been good," Jessica said as she sat down on the coffee table near where Aaron was seated. Jessica had been surprisingly accepting of Jackson in Aaron's life, as more than friends. Aaron wondered, but would never ask, if it had to do with Aaron not replacing Haley with another woman in his life.

"I think it's a lot more simple than that," Aaron said. He reached up and rubbed at his face with the palms of his hands. "He's never had friends before."

"Ever?" Jackson asked.

"No. That's come up a few times in his therapy, and his psychologist has talked to me about it some. I was all for pushing him to make friends, but I would rather him have friends for the fact that he wants them and not because I want him to. He'll do anything to please me."

"So..." Jessica asked.

"Spencer was okay with dinner out until Jackson entered the picture. He wanted pasta and meatballs, gelato afterward. This would be the first time that Jackson and I have done something with the kids together. I've had five dates so far with Jackson, six if you count the coffee date I was ambushed into." Aaron looked up at the ceiling and stared at it. "I met Jackson through Spencer, and still Spencer has been getting closer to Jackson. They are friends. Spencer thinks that I'm trying to take his friend from him."

"I think you are looking at this through wrong colored glasses," Jackson said.

Aaron looked at him, and he was sure the look on his face was pure confusion.

"What?"

"He doesn't think that you are going to take me away from him, but I do think that he thinks I am going to take you away from him. You are a steady constant in his life right now. You and Jessica but it's you who he looks up to as a father figure, Aaron. No matter what he calls you. He loves you, and you love him, and I'm being added into this family, and I don't think he likes it. Jack's seen you date at least once from what I am to understand. He's seen this before, and Spencer hasn't. His parents were married and then not, and his mother was nowhere near where she could fool anyone, so there was no way that she had dated anyone. He has never been around a parent who has dated. You said it yourself the other day when you called to talk to me on that case. He's been a little moody lately, and it wasn't until I was watching him pout and then start to cry when you were looking at me that I realized that the moods have all been around when you and I go on a date."

"No," Aaron said, but even as he said it, he knew that Jackson had a chance at being right, a pretty high chance at that. The mood swings in Spencer before were not that noticeable, but now that it had been pointed out, Aaron could kind of see it. Spencer's only friend was Jackson and if Jackson was butting into his life in a way that he didn't want. Aaron looked at Jessica because he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. On the one hand, it was his life, and he needed to live it in a way that made him happy. The other hand, Spencer had a right to his feelings, and just like when Aaron had not left the FBI because Jack hadn't wanted him to, he had to do right by his kids.

Jackson was looking at Aaron like he knew that he was right, and Aaron was denying without merit. Which at first he had been but now? Now Aaron wasn't sure what was going on.

"You know, at one point I thought that if I did my best to not hurt my kid, I would be a good father but Spencer kind of challenges that on a daily basis."

"He's just going to take a few different ways of looking at things," Jackson said as he finally got close to Aaron. He crouched down to drop to his knees in front of Aaron and reached up to cup the side of his face. Aaron leaned into that touch. He had forgotten before Jackson how much he missed touch from someone who wasn't Jack or Jessica. The touch of a lover, more intimate than anything else even if it was a publicly displayable form of affection. There was a difference to it all, and he missed it.

"I feel like I'm failing him."

"As long as you never give up on him, you'll never fail him," Jessica sat down on the edge of the couch right at Aaron's side. "He's become a very happy boy with you. He's grown in so many ways from the scared little boy that you brought home. You knew after what happened during the case that you would have issues with him, but you were ready for those."

"Case?" Jackson asked because they had never told him what had caused Aaron and SPencer's paths to cross just that Aaron had met him and realized the life he was living.

"I...I can't discuss that, and it's not just that it was an active case but the fact that I have not asked Spencer if he wants anyone to know."

"Miss Kate needed protecting," Spencer said from the area near the steps.

Aaron pulled out of Jackson's hold to look at Spencer. His eyes were rimmed with red from his tears, and Aaron wanted to go over to him, but he didn't want to shove Jackson out of the way. Spencer looked hesitant at Jackson and then at Aaron before he started to walk over. He climbed onto the couch and walked right over to cuddle into Aaron's lap. Jackson started to lean back to give him space, but Spencer's hand shot out and stopped him.

"Well, I've met Miss Kate, and I don't think there is much she needs protection from," Jackson said.

"She was giving birth to little Spencer, and a very bad man tried to kill her and little Spencer. I protected them."

Jackson looked up at Aaron with shock on his face. Aaron could see that Jackson figured out exactly what that meant.

"I had nightmares for a long while. About that and then about Aaron giving me up. A lot of different nightmares and sometimes, even now they kind of merge together."

"Like me taking Aaron away?" Jackson asked.

"I know that you won't," Spencer said, and he said it very quickly like he was trying his hardest to them to understand it. He looked so frightened. About losing Aaron, about losing his first friend. "Miss Amy tells me that you aren't going to take Aaron away from me, and I mostly believe that but sometimes I can't turn it off."

"That's what fears are, Spencer," Aaron said, and he wrapped his arms around Spencer and held him close. "You can't just reason them away. Logic doesn't work. We aren't Vulcan."

Spencer laughed at that and shoved at Aaron's arm, but as Aaron moved with it, the hand grabbed and pulled it back.

"How about this, Spencer?" Jackson asked as he tipped Spencer's face up to look at him. "Why don't I go out and get our dinner. I can have Aaron call it in, and then I can pick it up and after we eat maybe we can go out for gelato."

"Can I-" Spencer stopped and bit at his lip. He was still having trouble asking for things that he wanted, but he was getting better. He was learning that Aaron wasn't going to get mad at him. "Can I go with you, Jackson?"

"Sure. You can help me carry everything inside."

"Are you sure?" Spencer asked. He looked down at his hands before looking up again. "I won't get in the way."

"I don't think you could ever be in the way, Spencer. You are a really good helper in the school. I've seen it more than just when you are helping me. I see you helping everyone. I see you helping Aaron by taking out the trash and even helping Jack with his homework if Aaron's cooking dinner."

Spencer started to blush at Jackson's words. He looked away from the man, not able to meet his eyes. Jackson winked at Spencer and then looked at Jack. Aaron hadn't even realized that Jack had come back down into the living room.

"What do you think? Do you think Spencer can help me with dinner?"

"Yes. I'll help Daddy here and get everything ready for us to eat. Aunt Jessica, are you staying for dinner?"

"No. I have other plans. I promised a friend I'd meet her for dinner and I don't want to break my promise."

"Promises are not nice to break," Spencer said.

"No, they are not." Aaron pressed a kiss into Spencer's hair and enjoyed holding him. It would stop at some point. It might take longer than other kids usually would be, but Spencer hadn't had a parent hold him in a long time.

"I'm sorry, Jackson. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Thank you, Spencer, but you didn't hurt my feelings. I was more worried about you. You weren't acting like yourself."

"I'm sorry, Aaron, for yelling at you."

"I won't make you promise to never do it again because I know teenage years are coming but thank you for apologizing and coming down and talking when you were calm again."

"I was very bad yelling, and I wanted to make sure that you knew that I knew."

Aaron kept his tongue because it was something that they had gone over a few times. Spencer was going to act out, they both knew it, but Spencer was always so over helpful afterward.

"Thank you."

"Aaron, want to call in pasta and extra meatballs?" Jackson asked. He looked at Aaron with a smile on his face. Aaron was pretty sure that Spencer wanted to talk to Jackson alone and given that Jackson had been right, Aaron kind of wanted to hear what kind of shovel talk a little genius was going to give an adult genius on hurting Aaron.

"Sure. Then I'll walk Jessica out to her car. Jack, how do you feel about eating Japanese style?"

"Oh, yes." Jack started to bounce where he was standing. He rushed over and started to clean off the large coffee table. Spencer had talked Aaron into the larger one so they could eat at it sometimes and be like the Japanese. It wasn't quite how they did, but it was as close as they could get. Especially given that Spencer couldn't eat with chopsticks to save his life. Aaron, Jessica, JJ, Callahan, and even Jackson had tried different methods, and there just was no teaching him. Jack could so it wasn't just hand size. Aaron often wondered if Spencer over thought it all.

Aaron helped Spencer off of his lap, and he and Jackson started to the door. Aaron waved for Jessica to hold up while he walked to get the cordless phone from the wall in the kitchen. He dialed the place they had been going to eat at and placed the to-go order and canceled the table that he has reserved so that they didn't have to worry about waiting for one.

Jackson started up the same little fight that he had started three days before when he had picked up Spencer from school to show him a new experiment that was happened at Grimes Tech. Aaron had been on the phone with them as they had driven. Aaron had been working on the budget, and the inane chatter from the two of them had been good. Aaron realized right then that he couldn't give up Jackson and he couldn't give up Spencer so he would have to make sure that he didn't lose either of them. He would just have to navigate the minefield that was Spencer and learning how to accept Aaron dating.

Aaron didn't want life without either of them, and he would make sure that he kept them. He really needed happiness in his life, and sometimes that only came with work. It was worth that work, though. He knew that Spencer was worth the work, and so far Jackson was acting like he was worth the work. Jackson had made sure that Aaron understood that while he was laid back, when he gave his heart, he gave it all and that he wouldn't be giving over anything easily. Aaron understood that better than most.

It was a weird little family, but it was Aaron's family and loved it exactly the way that it was.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story! 
> 
> I can be found on MeWe (a FB replacement that's better) [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot. My writing page for the moment is kind of dead in the water on a FB front as links are being banned for content. 
> 
> The Criminal Minds Reverse Bang sign-ups are open until June 30th! Please check it out [here](https://criminalmindsbangblog.wordpress.com/).


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